Sainsbury’s have back-pedalled on their chicken welfare pledge, with their Good Chicken Award withdrawn by Compassion in World Farming (CIWF). The award was given to the retailer in 2010 after they made a commitment to provide chickens with natural light, more space and enrichment, as well as a slower growing breed of bird. The commitments…

The government have proposed a ban on plastic straws, drinks stirrers and cotton buds in England, and there is a consultation to discuss the possible ban. Theresa May will urge leaders around the Commonwealth to follow the UK in tackling the problem of plastic waste at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, which begins later…

Animals’ popularity is a ‘disadvantage’ to their safety according to a survey. Some of the public’s best loved animals such as lions, tigers and elephants are at a greater risk than public perception suggests and this is thought to be due to advertising and branding which use these animals. Researchers believe that using animals such…

Gordon Ramsay, a renowned anti-vegan celebrity chef, has tweeted an image of a vegan pizza, leading some people to believe that he has gone vegan — a claim that we have found no evidence to support. It is, however, a step forward for Ramsay to speak neutrally about veganism and inadvertently support the cause. The…

Food outlet Pret A Manger has launched a new spring menu with added vegan items, which will be available from tomorrow. The vegan items on the menu include a dark chocolate and almond butter cookie, a mango & banana sunshine bowl, the avo, olives & toms baguette and a vegan chilli flat bread. Head of…

The egg industry has been identified as a major contributor of greenhouse gases in a new report published in the Journal of Cleaner Production. Researchers at the University of Oviedo used a poultry farm in Austria with 55,000 chickens and a yield of 13 million eggs per year as the example for research. In the…

Sea Shepherd has launched a new campaign called Plastic Ocean that highlights the problems that marine life face in the oceans filled with plastic. More than one million ocean-dwelling non-human animals become stuck in plastic waste each year, causing pain, disability or death. Inevitably, the plastic that is eventually broken down into microscopic microplastics is…

UK supermarket Iceland has announced that they are banning the use of palm oil in their own brand products, amid the environmental issues with using palm oil. They are the first UK supermarket to make this change. The collapsing orangutan population has spurred on the change, with palm oil successfully removed from 50 per cent…

New research has proven that the use of bee-killing pesticides on crops is unnecessary and that poor management practices pose more risks to crops than pests. The pesticides used often harm pollinators such as bees, which are in rapid decline. In the study, published by Environmental Science and Pollution Research, it states that only 1…

Australia’s Agricultural Minister David Littleproud has threatened to block a ship leaving Australia over concerns for the welfare of the animals on board. A ship carrying over 63,000 sheep saw 2,400 die due to a heat event and inadequate care of the animals during the transportation in 2017. Sky News has reported that the government…