Humane washing in the food aisle

P. Renée Wicklund, Kim E. Richman, Jennifer Church and Siobhan Donahue

Chapter 50 in Elgar Concise Encyclopedia of Animal Law, 2025, pp 190-194 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: Consumers are increasingly conscious of the ethical considerations surrounding their food choices, leading to a burgeoning demand for animal products that are humanely and ethically sourced. This demand has given rise to a phenomenon known as ‘humane washing’ – misleading marketing strategies employed by some food companies to portray their products as humanely sourced when, in reality, the treatment of the animals involved in the production process falls far short of what a reasonable consumer would consider humane. The lack of standardized definitions for the popular marketing terms used by meat and dairy companies to convey ethical treatment of animals, such as ‘humane’, ‘happy’, ‘pasture-raised’, and ‘naturally raised’, coupled with lacklustre enforcement by US federal agencies, allows some corporations to exploit consumers’ ethical concerns to boost their own sales and profits. Consumer protection litigation is a powerful tool that helps to fill this gap in governmental oversight.

Keywords: Humane washing; Consumer protection; Deception; Labelling; Animal welfare; Food (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
ISBN: 9781803923666
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