Call for chicken labelling design

- Published: 12 February, 2009

A national chicken welfare campaign is inviting members of the public to design a less 'misleading' label that can be put on to supermarket chicken packaging.

Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's Chicken Out! campaign, along with charity Compassion in World Farming (CIWF), is asking people to come up with a new label design to replace the alleged misleading information currently found on supermarket packaging.

The competition runs to 23 February and organisers are looking for a design that uses the right words and images which are a true representation of the conditions under which standard chickens live.

CIWF chicken campaign co-ordinator Eloise Shavelar said: "Many supermarkets are using packaging that includes 'meaningless descriptions' and images representing the 'outdoors', which could imply chickens live a healthy, outdoor life. Clear and honest labelling will ensure shoppers know the conditions in which their chicken was produced and make it easier to choose higher-welfare alternatives."

The law has required that eggs boxes be labelled with the production method since 2004 and CIWF says this has resulted in a move away from caged eggs. The charity wants this scheme to be extended to chicken meat in the hope that it will encourage consumers to choose chicken produced in higher-welfare systems.

More details can be found at www.chickenout.tv/design-a-label-competition