What do labels on chicken products in the UK actually mean?

While some labeling terms on chicken products have legal definitions—meaning chickens have to be farmed according to certain standards—other claims are mere “humanewashing.”

Here is what you need to know about labels on chicken products, and what some of the most common claims actually mean.

What chicken labels are there?

While some labeling on chicken products might tell you something about how chickens are raised—such as whether they had access to the outdoors—others may offer verification from a third party certifier, like RSPCA Assured or Red Tractor.

Some phrases, however, can just mean whatever companies want them to mean, without any legal oversight.

What information is required on a chicken label?

The UK requires some essential information on the packaging of chicken products, as for all food, including:

• Product name (e.g., chicken breast, whole chicken)
• Net weight
• Use-by date
• Storage instructions
• Cooking instructions
• Country of origin
• Nutritional information

There are no legal requirements for food labels to disclose what kind of farm a chicken comes from. For eggs, this is different—whole eggs have to be labeled as “free range” or “barn eggs.”

What are some common chicken labels?

Chicken grades

Chicken products in the UK can be graded as “Class A” or Class “B” based on certain aesthetic qualities, according to the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development. For example, Class A chicken meat “must be plump,” while breasts “must be well developed” and legs “fleshy.” Class B products need only be clean and free of things like visible blood stains and “severe bruising.”

Organic chicken

Organic is one of the few labels that is legally defined in the UK. Chicken, like any food labeled organic, has to meet specific standards and be approved by a third party such as the Soil Association. Organic chicken must not be genetically modified, nor can animals have been fed genetically modified feed. Also, organic chicken farms aren’t allowed to use synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, or other chemicals.

Organic chicken farms also have to meet particular animal welfare standards, including providing more space, access to outdoor pasture, and keeping smaller flocks than on conventional farms. The Soil Association also requires organic farms to use slower-growing breeds of chickens to avoid some of the health and welfare problems associated with fast-growing breeds.

Free-range

For chicken products to be labeled as free range in the UK, the animals must have been given continuous access to the outdoors during the daytime, for at least half of their life. However, chickens could be living with thousands of others in a cramped barn and only have access to a small outdoor space. In reality, this may mean that a chicken wouldn't get the chance to be outside even if they wanted to.

Antibiotic-free chicken

In general, the “antibiotic-free” label on chicken products means that no antibiotics were used in raising the chicken. It’s a label more commonly used in the US, where overuse of antibiotics for farm animals is of greater concern.

In the UK, antibiotic use is restricted—though still not strictly enough. That said, the British Poultry Council reports the UK poultry sector has cut antibiotic use by 80% since 2011.

This doesn’t mean that chickens pumped with antibiotics don’t end up on supermarket shelves in the UK, however. In 2023, Asda, Iceland, and Lidl were found to be selling antibiotic-dosed chicken from a Polish supplier linked to an outbreak of a deadly superbug.

No added hormones or steroids

The UK has banned the use of hormones and steroids in chicken farming, so any label claiming “no added hormones” is simply stating standard practice.

All-natural

“All-natural” is meant to signal to consumers that nothing artificial has been added to a food. However, as a marketing term, it has no legal definition. All-natural is not the same thing as organic, and it doesn’t tell us anything about how a chicken was raised.

Who’s in charge of labeling?

There are a few bodies that regulate food labeling. The role of the Food Standards Agency (FSA) is to make sure that labels are accurate and not misleading. Certification schemes like the Soil Association oversee organic and other specific claims about welfare, making sure they meet specific standards.

What is the importance of chicken labels?

Currently, labels on chicken products only tell us a minimal amount about how the animals were farmed. Labels can also mislead shoppers to assume that animals were raised with higher welfare standards than they actually were.

For example, Tesco’s “Room to Roam” and Co-op’s “Space to Thrive” sound similar but in reality mean very different conditions for chickens. While “Room to Roam” means the chickens have all the protections of the Better Chicken Commitment (BCC), “Space to Thrive” only gives chickens a little more space. While this is progress, Co-op is still using fast-growing breeds of chicken, causing them to suffer from a range of painful health conditions.

In fact, 91% of Brits want to see better labeling on meat products that would tell them what type of farm the animals came from, such as factory farms.

We want to see a mandatory method of production labeling (LINK) on all animal products in the UK, which would tell consumers more about what kind of life each animal had and empower them to make better choices.

What are common marketing terms, and what do they mean?

Naturally raised

This marketing term is meant to conjure up ideas of chickens living natural lives, pecking around outdoors in the sunshine. Unfortunately this isn’t the case, as this marketing claim does not in fact indicate anything about the way the animals were farmed.

Vegetarian-fed

Chickens, particularly those raised on factory farms, are typically fed a diet of soy, corn, and/or grains. They can also be fed insect meal or fish meal, among other animal products. Labels that claim chickens are “vegetarian-fed” or other variations like “corn-fed” describe chickens that are fed no animal products.

Humanely raised

This label can be majorly misleading, as it has no legal definition. If it is coupled with a third-party welfare certification, consumers can check what it actually means regarding how the animal was farmed.

Pasture-raised

Pasture-raised chicken indicates that the animal ate a more natural diet of bugs, grains, and plants on pasture, rather than being fed soy, corn, or other types of mass-produced animal feed. It also suggests the animal got to spend more time outdoors. But as there is no legal definition of this term, it could be used equally for chickens who have spent a small portion of their lives outdoors, or for those who spent their entire lives outdoors.

What are the environmental impacts of farming chickens?

Factory farms that raise chickens have been multiplying over the last few decades. Today there are more than 1,000 farms in the UK that house at least 40,000 chickens each. Many of these facilities are concentrated in a few counties such as Herefordshire, and have been blamed by environmental campaigners for choking the River Wye with pollution from chicken waste. Factory farming in the UK has also been linked to deforestation in the Amazon, where soy is grown to feed farmed animals.

What are broader risks associated with chicken farming?

More broadly, chicken farming has become a major zoonotic disease risk that is endangering not only chickens, but also wild animals and people. Factory farms have helped to turn relatively harmless viruses into major crises. For example, avian flu has mutated and become deadly to wild birds and dozens of other species. It has also prompted the brutal culling of millions of chickens and other farmed birds globally.

The bottom line

Currently, labels are confusing and misleading, more about marketing opportunities for retailers than any indication of welfare. We want this to change, so that customers can be empowered to make the right choices for themselves, and for animals.

If you want to be involved in campaigns like this for animals raised for food, join us.