Product Labeling, Certification or Regulation

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a toxicity test for Botox developed by the company Allergan Inc. that does not use animals. Researchers have developed a toxicity test that utilizes nerve cells in a petri dish to replace the Lethal Dose 50% test that was previously used to test every batch of Botox the company made.

This report summarizes results from Wave 4 of the Animal Tracker annual survey of U.S. adults regarding their attitudes and behavior toward animals. In summary, the results continue to show strong support for humane education and many other advocacy tactics. However, support for all tactics is lower than it was in 2008 and there appear to be fewer people engaging in animal-friendly behaviors, perhaps in part due to the economic downturn.

This article examines U.S. consumer support for the mandatory labeling of animal welfare information on food products, and also suggests an economic framework for use in considering such policies.

This study measures consumers' incremental willingness to pay for "free range," "humanely-raised," and "conventionally-raised" poultry and finds that the premium consumers are willing to pay for humanely-raised products is inversely related to household size and the consumer's self-rating of his or her own ideological conservatism. In addition, willingness to pay varies directly with level of education and extent of concern with antibiotics, growth hormones and genetic engineering. Likewise, willingness to pay also varies directly with the extent to which the consumer believes that humanely raised products are healthier for humans, and with the extent to which the consumer believes that such humane standards will actually improve the well-being of these animals.

Authorities have discovered frequent cases of improperly labeled "local" food products, including meat and dairy, within the United Kingdom.

Increasing consumer demand for higher animal welfare products has set off a controversy over labeling standards for meat and eggs, resulting in charges that some producers may misrepresent their products and practices. Supermarket chains Whole Foods, Supervalu, and Safeway have pledged to inform shoppers with new labels and in-store signs.

According to an informal web survey conducted by Dutch animal welfare group, Wakker Dier, consumers in The Netherlands consider the term "barn eggs" to be the most misleading label on food packaging in the country.