Meat
At least 85% of farmed animals in the UK are factory farmed, so almost all meat comes from factory farms.
This is true not just from the supermarkets and fast-food outlets that we may love to hate, but also every time we pick up a sandwich from a petrol station or a sausage roll from a high-street bakery. Factory-farmed meat is the default and if it doesn't say it isn't, that's because it is.
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Pork, Bacon & Ham
Around nine in ten pigs are factory farmed. A handful of labels mean something; the rest are just decoration.
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Chicken
Fast-growing breeds in warehouse sheds are the UK default, including most chicken sold as "higher welfare". What the labels can and can't tell you.
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Beef
"Grass-fed" has no legal definition in the UK, so it appears on far more packs than it should. Intensive indoor finishing is growing here too, and no label has to tell you.
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Lamb
Most UK lamb is reared outdoors for part of its life, which is why the industry uses it as its shop window. Tail docking, castration and winter housing don't appear on the label.
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Turkey & Duck
Thousands of birds to a shed is the industry standard. Most ducks never see open water, and the packaging won’t tell you that.