What does Red Tractor mark mean?

The Red Tractor logo represents 20 years of driving world leading British food standards. Since 2000, we have worked closely with animal welfare experts, vets, agronomists and the entire supply chain to ensure that whenever you buy a product with the Red Tractor logo, it is traceable, safe and farmed with care.

What is Red Tractor status?

Red Tractor certification protects your reputation and that of the entire industry. Supply chain assurance: Red Tractor's thorough standards apply to every stage of the supply chain. This provides farm produce assurance at every stage of its journey to consumers.

Who owns Red Tractor?

The Red Tractor scheme was launched in 2000 by the National Farmers Union of England and Wales, with the logo originally known as the Little Red Tractor, and also the British Farm Standard. It was launched on 13 June 2000.

Can you trust Red Tractor?

When you buy products with the Red Tractor logo, you can be confident that you are buying British produce at its seasonal best which is safe for you and your family. Only produce from Red Tractor (or equivalent) certified farms can hold the Red Tractor logo.

Does Red Tractor mean free range?

Also underpinned by our Certified Standards, Red Tractor 'Free Range' birds have access to outdoor ranges as well as even more indoor space, giving them ample opportunities to express their natural behaviours.

What does the Red Tractor Assurance scheme actually mean

What is Red Tractor certified?

It claims to ensure the food is traceable, safe to eat and has been produced responsibly. Red Tractor standards cover animal welfare, food safety, traceability and environmental protection. The Union Flag in the Red Tractor logo indicates the food has been farmed, processed and packed in the United Kingdom.

What is a Red Tractor farm?

Red Tractor champions British food and farmers and is the UK's largest food and farm standards scheme. We cover all areas of food production from animal welfare and food safety to traceability and environmental protection.

Is Red Tractor high welfare?

The Red Tractor label is not a high welfare label and means you are likely to be buying pork from pigs that have suffered acutely from close confinement, lack of bedding, overcrowding and stress. However, it is important to remember that more than 80% of all UK pig farms use the Red Tractor label.

Who funds Red Tractor?

In other words, Red Tractor is funded by farmers to promote their own products and consequently has a complete lack of independent scrutiny. After numerous food scares thanks to poor animal farming, such as outbreaks of Salmonella and BSE, Red Tractor was formed in 2000 to 'rebuild trust in British farming'.

Why is Red Tractor important?

British Red Tractor food is safe

In short, by looking for the Red Tractor logo, you can be confident that rigorous food safety standards have been met and the produce can be traced right back through the supply chain to the British farms it came from.

Is Red Tractor RSPCA Assured?

Since RSPCA Assured was first set up over 25 years ago, our mission has always been to improve farm animal welfare. We have aimed to do this through our own assurance scheme and also by acting as a catalyst for change throughout the food and farming industries.

What is Red Tractor inspection?

Red Tractor is increasing the number of unannounced inspections on farms that fall short of its standards, using a new risk-based inspection regime which will start in November 2018. Currently 60,000 farmers face annual inspections and the data collected will be used to place underperforming farms under more scrutiny.

Can Red Tractor meat be halal?

Halal approved. Red Tractor farm-assured for your guarantee of quality and British provenance.

Is Red Tractor organic?

The main accreditation schemes for meat in the UK and that you'll find in supermarkets are Red Tractor, RSPCA Assured and Soil Association (organic). The Red Tractor scheme covers food safety and environmental protections, and is only used on British products.

How do I become a farm assured?

To obtain an application pack (consisting of an application form, Product Standard, Rules of Scheme and inspection checkist) call FQAS Helpline on (028) 9263 3024 or NIFCC (028) 9263 3017. 2. Submit application form and pay relevant membership fee. NIFCC will then complete some initial checks on farm.

What is Red Tractor beef?

The Red Tractor Beef and Lamb scheme requires beef animals to be held on an assured holding for at least 90 days and sheep at least 60 days before the stock can be described, and thus sold as farm assured.

Is Tesco meat Red Tractor?

All beef used in our Tesco own brand products (fresh, frozen or ingredient) is sourced from British and Irish farms, meeting our Tesco Welfare Approved (TWA) livestock requirements in addition to Red Tractor or equivalent assurance scheme.

Is Red Tractor meat ethical?

The Red Tractor scheme ranked lowest in a new study by Compassion in World Farming and OneKind, and was found often to offer little more on animal welfare than compliance with minimum legislation.

How often are Red Tractor inspections?

These inspectors are all appropriately trained and sufficiently experienced – together, they conduct over 60,000 inspections a year. The Red Tractor logo can only be used on food that has been produced, transported, stored and packed to Red Tractor standards and licensing rules.

What is the difference between free range and intensively farmed?

Organic chickens are kept in smaller flocks:

In comparison, RSPCA assured's free-range standards set a maximum flock size of 16,000 hens, whilst in intensive caged systems, there is no maximum, with some flock sizes reaching 100,000 chickens!

What does the Rspca assured symbol mean?

RSPCA Assured logo. RSPCA Assured is the RSPCA's farm assurance and food-labelling scheme, dedicated to improving the lives of farm animals. It gives consumers the option of choosing products that have come from. animals that have been inspected to higher welfare standards.

How many livestock farms are there in the UK?

There are now 789 mega farms in the UK, and the number of intensive farms has risen by more than a quarter in six years, from 1,332 in 2011 to 1,674 last year.

How do you know if meat is factory farmed?

Meat that's raised and produced on smaller farms is available mostly in alternative grocery stores. And unless your meat package labels explicitly state words like “organic, sustainably-raised, locally raised on pasture-based farms, humanely-raised, free-range, Certified Humane,” the meat is probably factory farmed.

Is Willow farm chicken free range?

Really? Of course, both Lidl and Tesco Willow Farms use Red Tractor standard chicken -- a guarantee that it is British and reared to basic (if not free range) standards.

Does organic mean high welfare?

Organic is the gold standard and guarantees the highest levels of welfare available for animals. It's worth noting that organic is legally defined - no other food or farming standards carry the same level of legal protection or enforcement.