Skip to main content

Certified Humane Food Product Labels Get New Definitions

Certified Humane Food Product Labels Get New Definitions

Food Product Labels for Humane Animal Care Receive New Standards Human Farm Animal Care announced new rules for food product labels that indicate animals were either "free range" or "pasture raised." HFAC is a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the lives of farm animals by creating standards and certifications for their treatment. Currently, no consistent legal definition for these terms exists, which means consumers can't always trust that custom food labels are authentic, according to Packaging Digest. For instance, the U.S. Department of agriculture says that free range means birds have access to the outdoors, but it doesn't make it explicit how much space the animals have or how often they are outside. The HFAC definition is one step toward more uniformity in labeling practices.

Changes to Food Label Printing for Chicken Products Companies that want a Certified Humane designation for animal products will have to make changes to food label printing. After spending two years going over research, the HFAC scientific committee has come up with several new definitions for humanely-raised chickens, reported the Sacramento Bee. "Pasture raised" animals will have had 2 square feet per bird, and were outside at least six hours every day. "Free range" will indicate a population density of 1,000 chickens per 2.5 acres, and that they lived outside year-round.

Request your FREE instant quote today.