An advertising campaign by Assured Standards’ Red Tractor Mark has been pulled after The Advertising Standards Authority ruled it had made fallacious claims to higher welfare. The advertisements included posters, banners and features in the national press which read, "Pork not porkies. Red Tractor pork is high welfare pork.” And “Grill it before you buy it. Red Tractor pork is high welfare pork.”

However, after over 200 complaints were made by members of the public and one by animal welfare organisation Compassion in World Farming, ASA banned the advert. The watchdog ruled that, whilst conditions may be better in the UK than in other parts of Europe and the rest of the world, "some aspects of pig farming in the UK, such as farrowing crates, tail-docking, tooth clipping and slatted floor accommodation… were nonetheless still contentious issues".

The Red Tractor Mark, backed by the AHDB, guarantees certain standards of production for meat and denotes British production. The bodies that commissioned the advert have since claimed that their intention was to compare Red Tractor pork with imported meat products. However, the logo has been cited as the cause of much confusion amongst consumers concerned with animal welfare.

Serial offender Red Tractor consistently makes claims of higher welfare production, despite evidence to the contrary from animal welfare organisations. In May, OneKind and Compassion in World Farming revealed that the mark offered few welfare benefits beyond meeting the UK’s minimum legal requirements, which the organisation suggested are inadequate in some cases.

Following the investigation, OneKind suggested “a lack of clear information on the welfare standards for the animals used in the production of different products is a significant barrier to ethical purchasing and consumer choice” and that different labels claiming higher welfare standards are muddying the waters, to the detriment of producers and would-be consumers of genuinely ethically produced food. However, the charities did admit, “UK minimum legal requirements do still offer much better welfare standards than those in other countries.”

Nevertheless, following the ASA’s ruling, Compassion in World Farming spokesperson Joyce Da Silva said, “Claims of high welfare are clearly a lucrative marketing tool but in this case they were overblown and misleading to the consumer. The ‘pork not porkies’ claim on the advert makes this a particularly embarrassing own-goal for Red Tractor pork.

“This is also a victory for those pig farmers in the UK who adhere to higher welfare standards like the Soil Association’s organic standard or the RSPCA’s Freedom Food.”

Although the trade bodies behind the campaign have accepted the ruling, they stand by their higher welfare claims. Mick Sloyan, head of BPEX, the pork industry body which commission the campaign, said, “We are proud of our existing welfare standards and methods of production and we are deepening our understanding of how these impact on the pigs in our care through the Real Welfare Project.”

However, the ASA stated, “It was unclear that the claim 'Red Tractor Pork is high welfare pork' was a comparative claim with imported pork,” and agreed that the Red Tractor statement had the potential to mislead.

40 per cent of pork sold in the UK is covered by the Red Tractor Assured Food Standards scheme.

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