From mum’s home cooking to the perfect bacon butty, food is one of life’s great pleasures. But how are we meant to make the right food choices from the almost limitless variety available to today’s shopper? And what are we to make of the bewildering array of information and logos that we see on food packaging, and the hundreds of conflicting claims about the origin and quality of food products?
Assured Food Standards is an organisation established to help cut through the confusion. Our Red Tractor logo is an easily recognisable symbol of quality food that’s affordable and safe to eat. When you see the Union flag in the Red Tractor logo you’re guaranteed that the food you’re buying comes from British farms and meets high standards of production relating to food safety and hygiene, animal welfare and environmental protection.
Here are ten good reasons to choose food and drink bearing the Red Tractor logo.
A comprehensive range
Our mark can be found on a wide range of food and drink, including meat and poultry, fruit and vegetables, dairy products, breakfast cereals and even beer. There are lots of Red Tractor products in many supermarkets, making it easy to feed your family with quality, affordable food all year round.
Food safety
If you think good hygiene is important when you’re preparing and serving food at home, why settle for less from farmers and food companies? With food poisoning bugs like salmonella and campylobacter on the prowl, our food safety standards require food producers to ensure cleanliness and reduce the risks of contamination all the way from the farm to the supermarket shelf
Animal welfare
We have detailed standards to help protect the health and welfare of farm animals. Red Tractor farmers are required to provide fresh water and a healthy diet at all times, with adequate shelter and resting areas for their livestock. Providing adequate space is also emphasised, to give animals and birds the freedom to express their natural behaviour.
A healthy environment
Farmers look after around three-quarters of the land area of the UK, so farming methods can have a big impact on the landscape and the countryside. Our standards require Red Tractor farmers to take care of wildlife habitats and make sure they do not pollute streams and rivers. The standards for fruit and vegetable production place particular emphasis on reducing the use of pesticides to protect food quality and the environment.
Rigorous standards
Our standards have been developed and refined over a number of years in consultation with experts from the food supply chain, experienced scientists, academics and independent specialists on issues such as animal welfare, food safety and crop protection. We are committed to reviewing and updating them in the light of the latest scientific research, and we publish them in full for the public to read on this website. Our standards don’t just apply to farmers. We want to ensure that safety and hygiene are maintained all the way from farm to fork, and so we make checks on food processing companies and packers too.
Food origin
More and more people are looking to buy locally produced food to support farmers and reduce the ‘food miles’ associated with transporting food over long distances. But identifying where food comes from can be difficult and labels can sometimes be misleading. Does the origin label tell you where the food was farmed or where it was processed? At AFS we have always had very clear rules on origin marks. The Union flag in the Red Tractor logo provides an independently verified consumer guarantee that the product has come from a UK farm. No doubts, no compromise.
Tough inspections and sanctions
We believe standards should be meaningful and enforceable – not a vague wish list that farmers and food companies aspire to. That’s why the 78,000 farmers and over 400 food packers and manufacturers working to Red Tractor standards are independently inspected at least once a year. All of them must comply with all our standards for the Red Tractor to appear on their products. We do not hesitate to suspend certification if we find cause for concern.
Traceability back to the farm
The visits our independent inspectors make and the series of checks they carry out enable us to trace all Red Tractor products to their farms of origin. This means peace of mind for the public – we make it our business to know exactly where your food comes from and to ensure that our standards are being met all the way from the farm to the supermarket shelf.
Independence and integrity
Assured Food Standards is owned by the entire food industry from farmers to retailers but we operate independently on a not-for-profit basis, with an independent chairman in charge of our affairs. This enables us to benefit from a wide range of experience and expertise without giving any one organisation or link in the supply chain undue influence.
Experience and expertise
The Board of Assured Food Standards includes respected scientists, prominent academics and experienced professionals from the fields of veterinary science, farming, food processing and retailing, animal welfare and trading standards. It is chaired by Colin Smith, former Chief Executive of Safeway. You can find out more about individual board members by following the link below
The AFS Board and key staff