Woolworths must change two statements about animal welfare on its website after the final appeals committee of the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) found that the wording is likely to mislead consumers.
The committee delivered its ruling on 11 November following a complaint by consumer Emma Russell about Woolworths's advertisements and the use of carbon dioxide gas to stun pigs in its supply chain before slaughter.
Animal Law Reform South Africa (ALRSA), which supported Russell during the appeals process, welcomed the ruling in a media statement. The organisation also made the full ruling available.
Two statements must be changed
The committee found that a statement in which Woolworths says it is committed to farming that does not harm people, animals or the environment creates the impression that no harm to animals currently occurs.
According to the ruling, Woolworths itself argued that it aims to reduce suffering, rather than that no harm takes place. The company must therefore change the wording to refer to the reduction of harm.
The committee also considered a second statement about the so-called Five Freedoms of animal welfare. It accepted that Woolworths can aim to meet those ideals, but found that the statement as a whole could create the impression that the standard had already been achieved.
Woolworths must now make clear that the Five Freedoms are a target and that other statements in the same section do not suggest that the standard has already been achieved.
What the Woolworths ASA ruling does not decide
The ruling confirms that it is not disputed that Molare, an abattoir in Woolworths's pork supply chain, uses carbon dioxide to stun pigs before slaughter.
The committee emphasised that its decision concerns the advertising claims and that it does not fall within its jurisdiction to decide which stunning method is preferable. Woolworths was not ordered to stop using the gas.
The original complaint and a first appeal were dismissed earlier this year. The final appeals committee partly upheld the appeal and set aside the previous appeals ruling where it differs from the new decision.
Nuusflits asked Woolworths for comment on the ruling and the use of carbon dioxide in its supply chain.
This article is an automatic English translation of a Nuusflits article originally published in Afrikaans. Read the Afrikaans original.
