The union flag displayed as part of the Red Tractor logo gives a guarantee that the produce was farmed, processed and packed in the United Kingdom.

[12] In July 2018 several UK media publications revealed serious cases of animal abuses at several farms that had passed recent inspections by the Assured Food Standards scheme.

[13] In June 2019, three poultry farms in Lincolnshire belonging to Moy Park were found to be keeping animals in "utterly dismal conditions" where chicken carcasses were left to rot in sheds holding up to 30,000 birds.

[14] In August 2019, Hogwood Farm in Warwickshire was suspended from the Red Tractor scheme after videos obtained by animal rights charity Viva!

[16] In September 2020, an investigation into a chicken farm that supplied Tesco found fast growing birds that were in chronic pain and others that could barely stand up.

[19] In July 2021, secret cameras captured chickens that had died of thirst and dead birds left to rot at three Red Tractor approved sites.

Covert drone footage captured by energy firm Ecotricity showed farm workers shooting at disease ridden pigs with many animals dying in front of each other.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said it was "deeply concerned" about the issue and that the sheer scale of the mortalities had prompted an investigation by officials.

[26] In October 2022, The Belfast Telegraph reported a Red Tractor assured pig farm was facing 3 counts of causing unnecessary suffering to animals.

An inspection by Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs found conditions to be unsanitary with pigs living in their own feces and several dead piglets that had succumbed to bacteria infections.

[27] In December 2022, footage shared with The Independent showed pigs that were "given electric shocks, hit, kicked and thrown as they were loaded onto lorries" at several Red Tractor assured farms.

Hidden cameras showed workers tossing hundreds of dead chickens into bins, in one case laughing and saying "I’ve never seen so many maggots in my life".

[31] In November 2023, animal rights charity Viva captured footage at a Red Tractor assured dairy farm in Wales.