Shopping with FAT Labels

Tired of confusing meat labels? FAT gives you complete, verified information so you can shop with confidence. Whether you care about animal welfare, nutrition, environmental impact, or supporting local farms, FAT labels tell you everything you need to know—all in one place.

This guide will help you understand what's on a FAT label, how to read it, and how to use it to make purchasing decisions that align with your values.

Understanding Meat Labels Today

Not all meat labels are created equal. Here's what you need to know about the four types of information you'll find on meat packages.

Why Shopping is So Confusing

Walk into any grocery store and you'll see dozens of different labels and claims. One package says "Natural." Another says "Humanely Raised." A third mentions "Grass-Fed." But what do these terms actually mean? Are they verified? Do they tell you the whole story?

The truth is, current meat labels give you pieces of information, but never the complete picture. You might know the animal was raised without antibiotics, but not what it was fed. You might see "Product of USA," but not know if it was actually raised here or just processed here. You're left guessing about the information that's missing.

FAT solves this problem by putting all the information in one place. No more piecing together fragments. No more wondering what's been left out. Just complete transparency.

What’s on Every FAT Label

Every FAT label discloses the same core categories—so consumers can compare products based on real information, not marketing language.

See FAT Labels in Action

Here's what a complete FAT label looks like for beef, pork, and chicken. Notice how every category is filled in—no guessing, no gaps.

How to Shop with FAT Labels

Step 1: Identify Your Priorities

What matters most to you? Different consumers have different priorities, and that's okay. FAT labels give you the information to shop according to YOUR values, not someone else's.

Maybe you care most about animal welfare. Maybe it's environmental impact. Maybe you want to support local farms. Maybe you're focused on nutrition. Whatever matters to you, FAT labels provide the information you need.

Step 2: Know What to Look For

Step 3: Compare Products

Because every FAT label includes the same 14 categories, you can finally compare products accurately. Not comparing grass-fed beef to grain-fed beef while guessing about welfare. Not choosing between "no antibiotics" and "pasture-raised" while missing other information. You see everything, side by side, and make an informed choice.

Stand in front of the meat case with two FAT-labeled products. Read through the categories that matter to you. Choose the one that best aligns with your values. That's it. Shopping becomes simple.

Step 4: Trust the Information

Every category on a FAT label is verified and documented. You're not relying on vague marketing claims or self-reported information. Third-party audits confirm that what's on the label matches what actually happened on the farm. When a label says "grass-fed," there are records proving it. When it lists a welfare certification, that certification is current and legitimate. You can shop with confidence.

Quick Shopping Tips

📋 Read All 14 Categories

Don't just focus on one category. The complete picture matters. An animal might be grass-fed but have poor welfare conditions, or vice versa.

🔍 Check the Details

"Grass-fed" can mean different things. Was it grass-fed AND grass-finished? Or grain-finished? The details matter.

⚖️ Balance Your Priorities

No product is perfect for everyone. Decide which categories matter most to you and make trade-offs accordingly.

💰 Consider the Price

Higher welfare and quality standards often cost more. FAT labels help you understand what you're paying for.

🏪 Support Transparency

Choose producers who embrace full transparency. Your purchases send a message to the market.

Farm Animal Transparency

All rights reserved

Manage Consent

To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.

Functional Functional Always active

The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.

Preferences Preferences

The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.

Statistics Statistics

The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.

Marketing Marketing

The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.

• Manage options
• Manage services
• Manage {vendor_count} vendors
• Read more about these purposes

Accept Deny View preferences Save preferences View preferences

• {title}
• {title}
• {title}

Manage consent

© 2025 Farm Animal Transparency. All rights reserved. | Terms of Use