@start-1@Social scientists have carried out a study of the schemes whose labels were found on products with animal welfare claims. These labels are the main form of communication between quality assurance schemes and shoppers. The relationship between assurance schemes and consumers in Europe is complicated as some retailers and manufacturers choose not to use logos on own-brand packaging or, where they are used, they are part of a carefully organised marketing strategy of separating category lines by quality. This does not give a clear picture to consumers as to what welfare standards products have been produced. Our study investigated the importance of animal welfare in assurance schemes.@end-1@@start-2@For the majority of schemes with labels carrying animal welfare claims, animal welfare is secondary to a more general concern for communicating ‘quality’. However, there are exceptions, such as the RSPCA Freedom Food Scheme in the UK, which is the only dedicated quality assurance for animal welfare in Europe; Swedish Meats implicitly guarantees higher animal welfare standards, because shoppers know that Swedish meat is produced to higher standards compared to meat from other countries; Peter’s Farm in the Netherlands and Thierry Schweitzer in France have created their own dedicated welfare-friendlier production systems and labels. More@end-2@