RSPCA: Brits reject restaurants that refuse to reveal their source

Monday, 19 October 2009 12:00 AM

Restaurants that cannot answer questions about the origin of their food leave a bad taste in customers' mouths, according to the RSPCA's Freedom Food scheme.

New research published today during Farm Animal Week* has revealed that a third of the population would boycott a restaurant that could not answer a question about where they source their products.

Nearly 60 per cent of us also think we have a right to know the provenance of our food when eating out, and some of Britain's top chefs agree.

Raymond Blanc, Peter Gordon, Martin Lam, Paul Merrett and Antony Worrall-Thompson issued a joint statement today saying:

"The British public need to stop being so reticent in restaurants and start asking where their food comes from. It's your right to know the origin of the food you are served and what types of farms are being used - and the mark of a good restaurant is one that is proud to tell you."

In response to this news Freedom Food has launched a new long-term campaign called 'Simply Ask' which aims to get people asking about food provenance when eating out. This is in a bid to encourage restaurants, pubs and cafes to start sourcing products from higher welfare farms such as Freedom Food, free-range or organic.

Beginning with eggs this year, 'Simply Ask' will urge people to start holding restaurants to account by demanding to know if they use eggs from hens that have not been kept in cages.

Freedom Food is also asking restaurants, pubs and cafes already using cage-free eggs to support 'Simply Ask.' More than 500 have already signed up including all National Trust restaurants and tea-rooms, Sainsbury's in-store restaurants, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's River Cottage canteens and restaurant chains Giraffe and Leon.

An astonishing 80 per cent of whole and liquid eggs used in restaurants, pubs and cafes as well as in products (such as quiches and cakes) are still from hens kept in cruel battery cages, compared to about 58 per cent of whole eggs produced for boxes sold in supermarkets.**

Increasing consumer demand for boxes of free-range and barn eggs has led to four major supermarket chains banning sales of boxes of cage eggs altogether.*** This - along with a rise in supermarket sales of higher welfare food in general in the midst of a credit crunch - is further proof Brits care about where their food comes from and the lives of the animals that produce it.

So why are restaurants lagging behind retailers when it comes to using cage free eggs?

Henrietta Green, food writer and founder of FoodLoversBritain.com thinks it is, in part, a case of the British public being too polite to ask:

"How many times have you sat in a restaurant and said your food is fine when it is not? It is such a typically British thing to do. We don't like making a fuss so we don't question where our food comes from. But it is not always right to be so polite.

"Because of consumer demand, there seems to be a real shift towards higher welfare eggs in independent shops and in the supermarkets. The same now needs to happen in restaurants, cafes and pubs. It is time to shake off this social taboo and simply ask.

"That's why I, and many of my FoodloversBritain approved places to eat, are backing Freedom Food's new campaign. Don't be polite, it's your right. Simply ask."

The chefs, who all use cage-free eggs in their restaurants, added: "The more people ask about food provenance and demand higher welfare products like those with the Freedom Food label, the more chefs will use them, and the more farm animals will benefit from a better standard of living."

"The message is simple: 'Simply Ask' what eggs are being used next time you eat out and help make a difference to the lives of millions of hens."

To mark the launch of the campaign Freedom Food has posted information about how people can help on www.freedomfood.co.uk/simplyask (site will be live at 14.00 on Friday 16 October). There is also an online 'Eggs-factor' guide to which restaurants, pubs and cafes are supporting Simply Ask.

Egg production is not the only welfare concern and Freedom Food intends 'Simply Ask' to extend to other species as the campaign progresses.

For further information please contact the press office on 0300 123 0134/0244 or 0207 630 6633.

Notes:
*Farm Animal Week is Freedom Food's annual awareness raising week which aims to get people thinking more about the lives of the animals that are reared for food. It is now in its fifth year

**This figure is from the BEIC (British Egg Industry Council) and refers to all liquid and whole eggs excluding whole eggs sold in boxes

***Co-op, M&S, Sainsbury's and Waitrose.

1. Henrietta Green, chef Paul Merrett, Freedom Food and RSPCA spokespeople are available for interviews by calling 0300 123 0134/0244 or 0207 630 6633
2. Broadcast-quality footage of an interview with an RSPCA scientist on egg production and chef Paul Merrett is available
3. Photos of hens in battery cages, and in Freedom Food approved barn and Freedom Food approved free-range systems are also available on request
4. All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc. Total sample size was 2017 adults. Fieldwork was undertaken between 22nd - 24th April 2009. The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all GB adults (aged 18+)
5. The research also revealed:
More than one in three people said they are now more likely to let farm animal welfare concerns influence what restaurant they eat in compared to five years ago
The majority of us (74 per cent) don't ask when eating out where the food we are served has come from

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