How the new consumer protection rules could help animals, too

As of April 2025, Part Four of the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 has come into force, introducing new protections against unfair commercial practices. Designed to safeguard consumers from being misled, this new legislation could have ripple effects beyond the marketplace – potentially offering stronger protections for animals, too.

At its core, the Act prohibits misleading practices that cause the “average consumer” to make transactional decisions they otherwise wouldn’t have made. 

Alongside this, the Act strengthens the investigatory and enforcement powers of the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), giving it more teeth to challenge systemic consumer harm.

In other words, businesses that mislead customers – whether through advertising, labelling, or imagery – could now face significant legal consequences.

But how does this relate to animals?

Our recent Food Chain Misinformation report highlights the pervasive and often deliberate use of misleading imagery when selling animal products. . Despite over 85% of farmed animals in the UK being reared in industrial systems, we found that more than 84.09% of producers used imagery, videos, or drawings of animals living outdoors on their websites or products. This disconnect is not trivial. It shapes consumer perceptions, influences purchasing decisions, and distorts the competitive market by rewarding producers who mislead over those who actually provide higher welfare conditions. 

The new rules may provide a clearer legal route to challenge misleading images or claims. 

In the long run, this shift could encourage more accurate marketing practices and help level the playing field for higher-welfare producers who are currently undermined by misleading competitors. Most importantly, from a consumer protection standpoint, it empowers and protects the consumers to allow them to make informed choices based on truth – not comforting fictions.

While this law was not written with animals in mind, its potential to reshape how they are represented in the marketplace should not be underestimated.

Read our report here.