Senedd petition urges Welsh Government to make meat labels reveal slaughter methods

Emily Price 

A Senedd petition has been launched urging the Welsh Government to introduce mandatory meat labelling that explicitly states whether an animal was stunned or not before slaughter.

The petition titled ‘Require clear labelling to show whether animals were stunned or not stunned before slaughter’ was created by Peter John Bull and has so far gathered over 100 signatures.

It will continue gathering signatures until Christmas Day 2026.

All petitions with more than 250 signatures will be discussed by the Senedd’s cross-party petitions committee.

Petitions with more than 10,000 signatures will be considered for a debate in the Senedd.

Mr Bull said: “I’ve started a Senedd petition asking for clear labelling to show whether animals were stunned to a degree or not stunned before slaughter.

“Slaughterhouses already record this information, but it never reaches the label.

“The aim isn’t to target any group — it’s about transparency and fairness for both consumers and producers.

“It also raises a wider question about how the UK Internal Market Act affects Wales’s ability to set its own standards.”

He added: “The Food Standards Agency (FSA) already records stun‑status in every approved slaughterhouse through Official Veterinarians, audits, and welfare monitoring.

“However, this information is never passed on to consumers. This is a clear animal‑welfare issue and a matter of public interest.”

Food labelling is a devolved matter under the Government of Wales Act 2006, giving Welsh ministers independent policy-making powers over food labelling rules within Wales.

Mr Bull said: “Wales has a real opportunity to take an ethical lead by ensuring transparency, improving consumer choice, and demonstrating a commitment to reducing cruelty in the food chain.

“Mandatory stun‑status labelling would provide clear, honest information to consumers, improve transparency around animal welfare, allow people to make informed ethical choices, use data that is already collected in slaughterhouses and showcase Wales as a nation willing to lead on welfare standards.”

The British Veterinary Association (BVA) says pre-stunning makes sure that animals are unconscious and insensible to pain before they are slaughtered.

The veterinary surgeons’ advocacy body warns that evidence shows that animals slaughtered without pre-stunning experience pain and distress during the neck cut and bleeding, with cattle taking up to two minutes to lose consciousness.

EU regulations and laws in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland require livestock to be stunned before slaughter to render them unconscious and insensible to pain at the time of killing.

EU and UK legislation provides an exemption to stunning requirements for animals slaughtered in accordance with religious rites, allowing non-stun slaughter for meat intended for Jewish and Muslim consumers.

The BVA has long called for clear labelling of meat and meat-products from animals that have not been stunned before slaughter.

The RSPCA has similar called for legislation that requires clear “method of slaughter” and “method of production” information on all animal products, covering both retail and food service sectors.

Mr Bull says the proposal outlined in his Senedd petition would not restrict religious slaughter, but would only aim to ensure that consumers are informed.

He said: “We ask the Welsh Government to review this issue and introduce a proportionate, evidence‑based labelling requirement so that people in Wales can make fully informed choices about the food they buy.”

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