A year on and the horsemeat scandal continues to rock the food industry. Consumer confidence in supply chain integrity is scuppered. Horse posturing as beef, pork and lamb. Contorted supply chains zigzagging across Europe, revealing appallingly long live animal journeys, widespread adulteration and rotting carcases.

Despite this, attention has largely focused on individual cases of fraud rather than a concerted effort to restore consumer trust in the food supply chain over the long term. Government action has been muted, the scope of the Elliott review too restricted. Until a concerted, systemic approach exists, new revelations will continue daily.

The controversy sparked by the Princess Royal’s recent suggestion that horse welfare might be improved by putting horsemeat on supermarket shelves may help shift the debate towards the welfare of farmed animals, for the betterment of all.

“Improved animal welfare will boost confidence in the supply chain”

It is a paradox that a nation of animal lovers should fail to place animal welfare at the heart of food production. Farmed animals outnumber domestic pets by 40 to 1 - there are 900 million in the UK, excluding fish. Extensive analysis of shopping habits shows how animal welfare edges ever higher up the consumer’s list of concerns.

New research by Populus shows over three-quarters of the public (77%) would have greater confidence in the food supply chain if welfare standards for farmed animals were improved.

These findings align strongly with the recommendations of the McNair Report, the result of an independent review I chaired last year, commissioned by the RSPCA into Freedom Food, the leading farmed animal welfare assurance scheme.

My panel, including former Defra secretary of state Caroline Spelman and Professor David Main, a distinguished academic veterinarian, was tasked with investigating the means to generate greater consumer confidence in the scheme and to improve farmed animal welfare.

Polling since the start of the horsemeat scandal and publication of the report shows nearly seven in 10 people (68%) now believe farmed animal welfare schemes to be more deserving of public support. However just 8% of farmed animals are currently reared under the scheme, and public recognition remains far too low. But a strategy to boost membership of Freedom Food is not enough. In the febrile climate since the horsemeat scandal broke, supermarkets have moved swiftly to assert their credentials.

The RSPCA must do likewise by implementing the recommendations of the McNair Report, starting with greater emphasis on the quality of animal welfare and robust but practical evidence-based standards, coupled with swift and effective disciplinary action, especially where animal welfare is compromised.

But it is not the food industry and the RSPCA alone that must take prompt action. Everyone must respond. A robust and durable system must now be built, with clear labelling, traceability and accountability at its heart, all enforced by a regulator who is fit for purpose.

Duncan McNair is chairman of The McNair Inquiry and Report (available at www.rspca.org.uk)