The meat label Beter Leven (better lives) is misleading consumers and needs a complete overhaul, several animal rights groups have told the AD newspaper. 

The label, which consists of one, two or three stars, was developed by animal protection group Dierenbescherming but does little more “than make meat eaters feel better about themselves”, the paper said after an investigation.  

Animals producing one-star meat are supposed to have a little more room and things to do than those on unregulated factory farms. Two star animals can go outside and three star are either organic or kept in an animal-centric system. 

But, according to Niko Koffeman, chairman of wildlife protection group Faunabescherming, the system rests on ‘marginal welfare improvements” and wrongly gives the impression the meat is raised in an animal-friendly setting. 

In reality, the animals are “locked in, exploited and slaughtered in a most gruesome manner,” he said. 

Campaign group Animal Heroes said the label is, however, leading to a change in mentality. “As long as people eat meat we should cherish every improvement, no matter how small,” spokeswoman Mony de Roos told the paper.

Varkens in Nood (pigs in need) said it did not want to stop use of the label either but expressed major doubts about the “one star” system. “When it comes to pigs, it is pretty standard in factory farming. Tails are still burnt off, sows are confined to cages. That is nothing to do with a quality label.” 

Militant campaign group Animal Rights, however, says people use the labeling system as an excuse to continue eating meat and dairy. The label’s inventor Dierenbescherming is on the wrong side of the debate, the organisation says. “They have become part of the livestock industry and that conflicts with the interest of animals. They only protect dogs and cats.”

Dierenbescherming told the paper it had no intention of stopping with the label but that it is assessing what improvements could be made to the criteria for inclusion. “Questioning the label is protecting the mainstream livestock industry,” the organisation said. “They can happily go on their way producing mainstream, animal-unfriendly meat.”

The label has been often criticised since it was introduced in 2007 and in 2021 the advertising standards authority ordered a radio advert by Dierenbescherming to promote “three star beef” off air for being misleading.

Recent research by national statistics agency CBS showed that just 5% of the population eat no meat but the number of people eating vegetarian meals regularly has gone up. One in four meals on Dutch dinner tables is now meat free.