Watchdog: Vegan group’s ad can say milk isn’t humane
A CAMPAIGNING vegan group has won the right to state that no milk is produced ‘humanely’.
The campaign by Go Vegan World suggested young calves were being taken from their mothers so we can have the milk they produce.
It drew complaints from the dairy industry – but the Advertising Standards Authority has backed the accuracy of the message in a blow to dairy farmers, who have suffered from years of falling sales.
The ASA said that while the campaign relied on ‘hard-hitting language’ it was ‘unlikely to materially mislead readers’.
Sales of cow’s milk have been declining in recent years as consumers switch to non-animal alternatives made from almond and soya.
Milk has also suffered from the fact that a growing number of people diagnose themselves as lactose intolerant.
This has been exacerbated by campaigns from animal welfare groups arguing that dairy farming is cruel.
The advertisement stated ‘Humane milk is a myth. Don’t buy it’ and featured a picture of a cow behind a piece of barbed wire. The ad carried smaller text, which stated: ‘I went vegan the day I visited a dairy. The mothers, still bloody from birth, searched and called frantically for their babies.
‘Their daughters, fresh from their mothers’ wombs but separated from them, trembled and cried piteously, drinking milk from rubber teats on the wall instead of their mothers’ nurturing bodies. All because humans take their milk.’ The ASA received seven complaints from people who believed the advert did not accurately describe the way that dairy cattle are generally treated. Government welfare rules, set by Defra, the farming department, recommend that a calf should be taken from its mother within 12-24 hours.
Go Vegan World argued that its advert did not deny this or misrepresent the situation. It also said the exact timing of the separation was irrelevant because the advert was commenting on the injustice of separating cow and calf.
Clearing the advert, the ASA said it understood the complainants were concerned the advert implied a significant number of dairy farms did not comply with animal welfare standards in place in the UK, and milk production was therefore ‘inhumane’.
But it concluded: ‘We understood that Defra recommended that calves should be kept with their mothers for at least 12 and preferably 24 hours after birth.
‘Although the language used to express the claims was emotional and hard-hitting, we understood it was the case that calves were generally separated from their mothers very soon after birth, and we therefore concluded that the ad was unlikely to materially mislead readers.’