It can be tricky to make informed choices at the supermarket. Especially when it’s not obvious what different labels and marketing terms on products actually mean.

Let’s unpack the jargon!

There are two different things to consider when looking at supermarket labels:

Third-party product certifications

Marketing terms

Third-party product certifications are labels that companies pay to use. The product needs to meet some kind of criteria, verified to the satisfaction of the certifier.

Marketing terms are words used by companies to describe their products, to convince you to buy them. Sometimes there are legal restrictions on the use of specific words or claims on product labels, sometimes there are not.

It can be easy for marketing to look like a certification. We’ve included some comparison images below to help you spot the difference.

As you will see, none of the certification standards used in Australia today require higher welfare, slower growing birds. None meet the requirements of the Better Chicken Commitment.

Third-party labels

The first thing to look out for is certification by a third-party animal welfare standard.

We’ve created a handy comparison table of the animal welfare standards for Australia’s main chicken meat certifiers, but here’s a summary of what their labels mean.

RSPCA Approved

This label means chickens are raised and slaughtered under the RSPCA Approved Meat Chicken Standard. The RSPCA Standard is higher than the minimum legal requirements, but it allows fast-growing birds in indoor and free-range systems and does not meet all aspects of the Better Chicken Commitment. Over 90% of chicken meat produced in Australia is RSPCA Approved.

FREPA

This means the chickens have outdoor access in conditions that meet the Free Range Egg & Poultry Australia standards (FREPA). The FREPA Standard is higher than the minimum legal requirements, but it allows fast-growing birds and does not meet all aspects of the Better Chicken Commitment. 

Australian Certified Organic

This means the chickens have free range access and living conditions that meet the Australian Certified Organic Standard. The ACO standard requires organic farming practices, more space, and a ‘preference’ for slower growing breeds raised for 70 days, but it still allows fast-growing birds. This standard does not meet all aspects of the Better Chicken Commitment.   

Marketing terms & product claims

Marketers often use images of chickens on lush green grass and the words organic and free range on their labels, without meeting any specific welfare standards.

For example, having a free range label does not mean the same thing as being FREPA certified. The chickens may have more or less outdoor space, and they may have more or less access to it.

Free range

Free range on its own just means that chickens have some access to the outdoors. There's no legal definition of free range, so there’s no guarantee of the quality or size of the outdoor area.

Even with the best outdoor space, free-range chicken production still uses fast-growing breeds. This means that chickens are trapped in bodies that are difficult and painful to move around in. As a result, many don’t get to make use of the outdoor space available.

Free-range chickens are usually kept indoors until they’re about three weeks old, when they’ve grown enough feathers to cover their bodies. Chickens raised for meat are slaughtered at five to seven weeks old so, at best, they only spend a few weeks of their lives with access to outdoor spaces.

Organic

Generally, organic farming avoids manufactured pesticides and other synthetic chemical products. There is no legal definition of the word "organic". Organic farming mostly impacts the feed and supplements given to chickens.

Most organic farms also provide some outdoor access and other welfare considerations. But this is not specifically an organic practice. You need to look for a certification label to have any assurance of welfare standards.

100% Australian, Australian Grown

In Australia, importing fresh chicken meat from overseas is banned for biosecurity reasons. This means that most chicken meat sold in Australia comes from Australian grown chickens. Only some manufactured meat products are likely to contain imported chicken meat.

Antibiotic free, raised without antibiotics

Generally, when labels state that a product is “antibiotic free” or “raised without antibiotics”, this is referring to use of antibiotics for growth. Irresponsible, non-veterinary antibiotic use contributes to increasing antibiotic resistance.

Most producers of “antibiotic-free” chicken meat use antibiotics when prescribed by a vet to treat illness in individual chickens, but those chickens then cannot be sold as “antibiotic free”.

No added hormones

It’s a common misconception that some chickens are given hormones (e.g. steroids) to encourage more growth. In Australia, giving hormones to chickens raised for meat has been illegal for decades, and was never common in the first place.

Back in the 1950s, at the beginning of the intensive chicken industry, the chicken industry trialed using hormones to make chickens grow larger and faster. However, the chicken industry found that selective breeding was a more effective way to increase growth.

So why is this label still so common on chicken products?

While it is misleading (because zero Australian chickens are given hormones), it is technically true. Because there’s such a wide misconception that added hormones are a problem, it’s sneaky marketing to appeal to that concern.

You can be confident that it is impossible to buy chicken meat with added hormones in Australia.

Cage free

Unlike with eggs, "cage free” labels on chicken meat are meaningless. No chickens raised for meat are kept in cages in Australia.

Help make life better for chickens

Two easy actions you can do right now to help chickens are:

Sign the Better Chicken Commitment pledge, to show that you support businesses making the switch to better chicken.
Spread the word – most Aussies are unaware of how bad life is for our chickens, and, like you, will want better welfare standards.

Add your name here to show the chicken industry and food businesses that you want higher welfare chicken products that meet the requirements of the Better Chicken Commitment.

As our campaign grows, there’ll be more opportunities to help demonstrate your support for the Better Chicken Commitment. Signing our BCC pledge will also get you on our email list, where we’ll share more opportunities to help chickens have a better life.

Like most Australians, I care about the welfare of farmed animals.
Chickens farmed for meat are one of the most poorly treated animals in the agriculture industry. Every year, millions of Aussie chickens suffer short, miserable lives before being slaughtered using outdated and cruel methods. I want that to change.
As many Australians like me grow more aware and concerned about how animals are farmed for food, I'm looking to restaurants and shops to match expectations for better animal welfare, sustainability, and food quality.
I’m calling on food businesses to sign the Better Chicken Commitment and introduce higher welfare standards for all chickens in their supply chain. This includes better living conditions, more humane slaughter methods, and switching to healthier, slower growing chicken breeds that promote good welfare.
It’s time to change the way chickens are farmed in Australia.
The Better Chicken Commitment must be the new standard for Aussie chickens.