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254: Got Labels?: What If Your Food Told the Truth?

Jul 15, 2025

A new Swiss law requires clear labeling for animal products, revealing if animals endured painful treatments. This shift promotes awareness and invites reflection on food choices, especially for those reconsidering their diets. The discussion challenges the 'right to know' versus ignorance and encourages curiosity over guilt. Listeners are invited to investigate one animal-based product’s journey and assess its alignment with their values. Navigating veganism in social settings also highlights the importance of respectful dialogue around dietary choices.

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INSIGHT

Switzerland's Animal Pain Labeling Law

Switzerland's new law requires labeling of animal products that disclose painful procedures without anesthesia.
This transparency invites awareness and choice without banning consumption.

INSIGHT

Transparency as Sunlight

Transparency in food labeling is not about guilt or agenda but about bringing light to hidden truths.
Sunlight on these issues creates conditions for improvement and healing.

INSIGHT

Right Not To Know Removed

The "right not to know" allowed people to remain ignorant about animal suffering in food systems.
The Swiss law removes this ignorance by requiring disclosure but doesn't ban the practices themselves.

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Switzerland’s groundbreaking new labelling law, effective July 1, 2025 doesn’t abolish animal cruelty—but maybe it bans ignorance. Food products like meat, dairy, eggs, foie gras, and even frogs’ legs must now clearly disclose if the animals experienced painful procedures—such as dehorning, castration, tail docking, force-feeding—performed without pain relief. The requirement extends to supermarkets, restaurants, small businesses, and importers (swissinfo.ch).

Michele unpacks how sunlight—the best disinfectant—can shine on systems once hidden from view. Especially for those of us in midlife, this transparency invites reflection, choice, and meaningful shifts. It's not about forcing people to change; it's about widening awareness.

In this episode:

Why truth on a label isn't an agenda—it’s an invitation.
How the “right not to know” may be the real barrier.
What we can each do—no guilt, just curiosity.

Listener Challenge: Choose one animal-based product—food, clothing, or cosmetics. Research how it was made. Ask yourself: does it match how I want to eat, live, or care?

Mentioned in this episode:

Swiss federal food labelling law requiring disclosure of painful animal procedures (plantbasednews.org, swissinfo.ch)
Labeling obligation applies to meat, milk, eggs, foie gras, frogs’ legs—across food outlets (plantbasednews.org)

- Force-feeding ducks and geese (foie gras) must be labelled—despite domestic ban for over 40 years (swissinfo.ch)
- Ban on fur imports from cruel practices, plus mandatory labeling and standards for fur products (swissinfo.ch)

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