FAQs

1.    Red Tractor – the organisation

 Why and when was Red Tractor established?
Assured Food Standards was established in the spring of 2000, and the Red Tractor was launched in the summer of the same year. At that time the public were faced with a plethora of food standards and labels. AFS and the Red Tractor mark were set up to help harmonise the approach to standard setting and inspection throughout the supply chain and to give the public a mark of quality, safe, affordable food that they could recognise and trust.

We believe that the Red Tractor has a major role to play in the future of food and farming – by promoting recognition of professionally produced assured food, and by boosting the reputation of food production in the UK. 

We do this by first establishing the benchmark for production standards and then carrying out regular and robust inspections to ensure that producers, processors and other operators continually meet those standards

 What is Red Tractor Assurance and why is it important?
The Red Tractor is a food assurance scheme which covers production standards developed by experts on safety, hygiene, animal welfare and the environment amongst other things.
We all want to know that the food we are buying is safe and this only comes from knowing where the raw ingredients come from and the standards to which they are produced, which is why all suppliers in the Red Tractor food chain are inspected and certified by an independent professional body. The Red Tractor certifies that food has been produced to independently inspected standards right across the food chain – from farm to pack.

 Why the Red Tractor mark?
By the late 1990s there were so many different 'food assured' claims and logos on food packs that it was becoming difficult for shoppers to make sense of them. So British consumers were asked what assurances they really wanted and they asked for a definitive, easy-to-spot symbol of assurance that food had been farmed and produced to independently inspected standards.

 Who started the Red Tractor scheme?
The Red Tractor scheme started by UK farmers, food producers and retailers working together to make sure that the food that you buy meets the standards that you expect for you and your family. The scheme was launched by the Prime Minister on 13 June 2000.

 Who runs Red Tractor?
Red Tractor Assurance is a small organisation, and its administrative costs are met by assurance fees and licence payments from farmers and food companies. 

We are owned by the entire food industry 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. 

The interests represented on our board relate to each of the key links in the food chain, with representatives of the National Farmers’ Union, the Ulster Farmers’ Union, the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board, Dairy UK and the British Retail Consortium. The Food and Drink Federation provides valued input. The Board also includes independent experts – prominent academics and specialist scientists, plus professionals representing consumers, veterinary science and the environment.

 What does Red Tractor Assurance do?
Red Tractor Assurance sets the assurance standards that apply to the farm assurance schemes and to different links in the food chain. They actively manage the certification bodies that police those standards. At the point of packaging they define the conditions for the Red Tractor mark and licence the packers who display it on their packs to ensure that the Red Tractor is only ever seen on food that is qualified to carry it.

 What are the standards behind the Red Tractor mark?
The Red Tractor can only be used on food that has been produced, packed, stored and transported to Red Tractor standards. The standards in all farming sectors (such as chicken, dairy or vegetables) have been agreed by a panel of experts to ensure that the food is safe and that the animals are well treated.

2. What standards does Red Tractor maintain?

 How can we trust the inspections?
All of the Red Tractor assurance schemes operate to the international standard ISO Guide 65, which is the European Standard EN45011. This guarantees that the independent inspectors are properly trained and sufficiently experienced. In all there are over 450 inspectors working on the Red Tractor scheme and they conduct over 60,000 inspections a year.

 How do I know where Red Tractor food comes from?
By law, most food must be labeled with its country of origin on the label although this is not always easy to find. The Red Tractor logo includes a statement of origin in the flag device and when you see the Union flag you can be sure the food has come from UK farms.

 How is the Red Tractor mark controlled?
The Red Tractor is protected by trademark and only approved packers can use the logo. Food businesses must be licensed by Red Tractor Assurance (RTA) before they can use the logo. And the licensing rules give us the right to check packers and their supply chain to make sure that the logo is only appearing on food that meets the high standards.

 What are the standards behind the Red Tractor mark?
The Red Tractor can only be used on food that has been produced, packed, stored and transported to Red Tractor standards. The standards in all farming sectors (such as chicken, dairy or vegetables) have been agreed by a panel of experts to ensure that the food is safe and that the animals are well treated.

 How many companies are currently allowed to use the mark on their food?
There are currently over 78,000 Red Tractor farmers in the UK, and they sell their food to one of 350 Red Tractor packers licensed to use the Red Tractor on their packaging. Food companies of all sizes, from a family-run salad grower to large dairy processors, use the mark.

3. Buying Red Tractor food

 Where can I buy Red Tractor food?
Red Tractor food is available from all the major supermarkets. You will find it on supermarket own brands and products like Countrylife butter, cheese and milk, Silver Spoon sugar and Allinsons flour.

 How do you ensure that the Red Tractor logo is only used on the correct products?
The Red Tractor logo can only be used to label ingredients from farmers, growers and food processors that have been inspected and certified to the standards we specify. To make sure this happens, we only allow the use of the Red Tractor logo under licence.

Our licensing applies to anyone in the food supply chain who puts the Red Tractor logo on a food or food product. This could be a salad grower that has its own packing operation on the farm, or a meat business that receives fresh, farm-assured meat from its suppliers for cutting and packing.

In signing our licence agreement, packers undertake only to put the Red Tractor logo on products eligible to carry it. They also agree to some arrangements that help us to validate that they are using the logo appropriately. They must keep records of incoming raw materials and production batches to allow full traceability back to the farms of origin. They must also agree that RTA can visit their premises to examine these records and check their systems.

Using this right of access, RTA manages a comprehensive inspection programme to underpin the integrity of the Red Tractor logo. This work is done for us by CMi, SAI Global and the Scottish Agricultural College, all of which have particular skills in different industry sectors. In the interests of efficiency these three audit bodies are asked to combine, where possible, our Red Tractor traceability audits with other work they do at the same facility. When assigning Red Tractor audits we select the inspection organisation that will be best able to combine its inspection with other work on the same site.

 How do things work with multi-ingredient products – do they need to contain only Red Tractor certified ingredients to carry the logo?
Multi-ingredient products must contain at least 95% Red Tractor certified ingredients to be labelled as Red Tractor products. We permit up to 5% non-Red Tractor ingredients to allow for minor ingredients such as seasoning, herbs and spices.

 Some of the ingredients of my product are not available from assured sources, but I’d still like to highlight the fact that the main ingredient is Red Tractor assured. How can I do this?
We will allow processors to use the logo to highlight that the main ingredient is produced to Red Tractor standards, for example the pork in a sausage or the potato in a potato salad.

A few conditions apply:


- There must be a note on the label to make it clear that the logo refers to one ingredient and not the entire product. This could be one simple word next to the logo naming the ingredient. Design criteria are available from Red Tractor.

- The named ingredient must comprise at least 65% of the food.

- The named ingredient must meet the normal assurance criteria.

- All of the named ingredient must be assured (for example all the pork ingredients of the sausage must be from assured sources). It is not acceptable for some of the pork to be assured – enough to meet the 65% criterion – but topped up with other pork ingredients from non-assured sources.

4. Red Tractor and other food assurance schemes

 Why should I trust your standards, and how do you ensure that they are in tune with the latest science and the expectations of the public?
Our standards have been developed and refined over a number of years in consultation with scientists, academics and independent experts on issues such as food safety, animal health and welfare, crop protection and looking after the environment. A wide range of experience and expertise is represented on the AFS board, including specialists in veterinary medicine, animal welfare, microbiological food safety and environmental protection. We are committed to reviewing and updating our standards in the light of the latest scientific research, and to continuing to publish them in full for the public to read on this website.



To help us meet the expectations of the public, our board includes an experienced consumer representative whose job it is to champion consumer concerns and constantly challenge us to address consumer priorities. We pride ourselves on being very open with consumers about our standards. We also welcome scrutiny by and dialogue with organisations such as the Food Standards Agency.

 Which assurance schemes are recognised by Red Tractor?
Nowadays the ‘core’ schemes in six product sectors are all wholly owned by Red Tractor. In addition, a number of schemes operating in parts of the UK or more limited product ranges are recognised as ‘equivalent’ and product from farms certified to these schemes is eligible to carry the Red Tractor logo.

RED TRACTOR ASSURANCE SCHEMES

OTHER SCHEMES