Animal Welfare

Animal testing

We are opposed to testing on animals and therefore do not conduct or commission such tests on our own brand beauty, toiletry or household products. Nor do we commission our suppliers or any other third party to carry out such tests. We operate fixed cut-off dates for the above commitment; 31st December 2009 for cosmetic products, and 31st December 2015 for cleaning products.  

Antibiotics

At ASDA, we recognise the critical importance of preserving the effectiveness of antibiotics for both human and animal health. We are committed to eliminating routine antibiotic use within our supply chain and to ensure that antibiotics are never used to compensate for poor hygiene, inadequate animal husbandry or poor farm management practices. 

We fully endorse the principles of the Responsible Use of Medicines in Agriculture (RUMA) and are an active member of the Food Industry Initiative on Antimicrobials (FIIA), aligning our practices with their policies and standards to promote responsible antibiotic stewards: these policies can be found on FIIA website www.fiia.co.uk.

Routine Antibiotic Use is prohibited for meat, poultry, fish, eggs, dairy and any animal-derived ingredients in all Asda products, whether for preventative/prophylactic treatment or use for use of growth promotion. Preventative treatment may only occur under strict veterinary prescription based on epidemiological and clinical evidence

The use of “highest priority critically important” antibiotics (HPCIAs) important for human health (fluoroquinolones, 3rd and 4th generation cephalosporins and colistin) must only be used as a last resort under veterinary supervision, where no alternative treatment is viable.

Ways we are working on improving animal health and welfare:

• We pay farmers in our Asda Dairy Group a premium to work to enhanced welfare standards. In our dairy supply chains, we have invested in supporting our Asda Dairy Farmers to work to enhanced welfare standards, for example all farms provide cows with indoor environmental enrichment in the form of cow brushes.

• Helping to transfer knowledge around animal health and welfare - a key focus of the Asda Beef and Lamb farmer groups.

• We collect outcome measure data from our suppliers allowing us to track progress on key welfare KPI’s.

• We are members of the Food Industry Initiative on Antimicrobials (FIIA) and through the British Retail Consortium, the Responsible Use of Medicines in Agriculture Alliance (RUMA)

• We work with our suppliers to test and trial innovation in our supply chain to improve animal health and welfare.

Improving the welfare of laying chickens:

 All Asda-brand shell eggs are produced in cage-free systems. We also use cage-free ingredient eggs* across our own-label products too, fulfilling commitments made back in 2016 and 2019.

 *Cage-free ingredient egg is specified for the production of all Asda products. In the event that supply for a product is disrupted, e.g. due to avian influenza, we may temporarily allow for variation from this specification to maintain the supply of products for customers. However, we will always get back to cage free ingredient at the earliest availability. 

Improving crustacean welfare:

Our supply chain for farmed prawns has already made significant progress through supporting innovation and research into best practice for prawn welfare and scaling adoption. We are committed to further progress and aim for all farmed prawns used in Asda products to be from ablation free broodstock by 2027. 

 We are also committed to optimising stunning for prawns by ending traditional practices of thermal shock and adopting electrical stunning, or methods that deliver better welfare outcomes where verified by independent research. This will start with white leg shrimp by 2028 and we are reviewing feasibility for implementation in black tiger prawns at the earliest opportunity.