5 Facts for Animal Advocates About Product Labels Tom Linney, Animal Legal Defense Fund Pro Bono Program Director The animal agriculture industry goes to great lengths to convince consumers that its products are humane. In reality, animals are exploited by the billions in the factory farming industry, often facing cruel conditions such as intensive confinement in crates or cages so small they can’t even turn around or flap their wings. One major source of consumer confusion is the labels on animal products, which commonly feature terms that suggest higher standards for animal treatment. All too often, these terms are essentially meaningless. Meanwhile, the factory farming industry and its enablers seek to prevent truthful labeling of plant-based products. Here are 5 facts to know and share. 1) “Antibiotic Free” and “Hormone Free” promises about eggs? They don’t mean much. Consumers can easily be misled into believing that eggs labeled this way are produced in less cruel conditions — but in truth, these terms say next to nothing about how chickens are treated. Most eggs in the U.S. are already antibiotic free, since antibiotics decrease egg production — and all are hormone free since it’s illegal to give hormones to chickens.
2) Terms like “Farm Fresh,” “Happy Hens,” “Naturally Raised,” or “Animal Friendly” on egg cartons? Don’t take them to the bank. There’s no official federal regulatory or policy guidance on phrases like these — so they can mean whatever the producer wants them to mean. 3) Some state legislatures are siding with industrial animal agriculture over consumers. Prodded by industry interests, state lawmakers may try to prevent plant-based producers from using truthful terms in their product labeling and marketing. Unconstitutional state laws have been enacted that seek to penalize the use of terms such as “plant-based sausage” or “veggie bacon.” The Animal Legal Defense Fund and others have stepped up to defend plant-based producers’ First Amendment rights, winning groundbreaking lawsuits in multiple states.
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