Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will take steps to include method of slaughter as an option in his recent consultation on consumer products food labelling.

In 2021, Defra ran a call for evidence to gather data on the impacts of different types of labelling reform for animal welfare, including considerations around imports, production systems and method of slaughter. We received over 1,600 responses and a summary of these responses is available on GOV.UK.

As recently announced by the Secretary of State, we will soon be launching a consultation on clearer labelling. This will explore options for labels and the animal welfare standards behind them, including the period of life which should be covered by these standards.