Supermarket chain Sainsbury’s has opted to drop the use of the Red Tractor assurance logo from its products. The Red Tractor logo, which denotes British production, will no longer be used on Sainsbury's own-brand meat, poultry, dairy and fresh produce.

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Although the logo confirms that the produce on which it appears is British, it offers very few assurances beyond that and has been the source of controversy in the past; most recently in August, when the Advertising Standards Authority pulled a series of adverts which claimed "Red Tractor pork is high welfare pork." The ASA judged the campaign to be misleading to customers as Assured Standards, which operated the Red Tractor Scheme, did not make it clear that its 'high welfare' claim was intended to be taken in comparison to some imported products.

On Wednesday (17th October), Sainsbury's announced it would be pulling Red tractor labelling from its products because the sheer number of logos appearing on packaging was confusing customers. The retailer said the decision would not affect its sourcing policies, which use the Red Tractor criteria as a basis.

A spokesperson for the supermarket said, "Suggesting this is a step back from supporting British farmers couldn’t be further from the truth; we are actually stepping up our commitment. We aim to double our sales of British food by 2020. Over the last five years we’ve invested £40 million into British farming, for example paying our Dairy Development Group farmers a premium for good animal husbandry and environmental practices, well above what is defined by Red Tractor.

"Only last month we announced a new £1 million agricultural fund to support British farmers, and we were recently awarded for our leadership and innovation in retail by Compassion in World Farming."

Sainsbury’s said new EU labelling laws had led to a reassessment of what information should be prioritised on packaging and assured that "whilst we will continue to adhere to, and exceed, the Red Tractor standard, we will no longer be using their logo."

A Red Tractor spokesperson said Sainsbury’s decision had left them "deeply disappointed" and NFU director of corporate affairs Tom Hind said the news would be "extremely disappointing… to farmers who take pride in the Red Tractor logo as a marque of the good standards of animal welfare, environmental protection and traceability to which they produce."

In May, two animal welfare groups investigated the various labelling schemes operating in the UK in terms of animal welfare. Compassion in World Farming, one of the organisations involved, concluded that "When it came to animal welfare, Red Tractor assured little more than compliance with minimum legislation" and that "All too often, the labels are confusing and consumers are misled." The two groups recommended customers seeking higher welfare products opt for items labelled as free range or organic.

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