Bucolic scenes on UK milk adverts hide reality of life for ‘battery cows’

Consumers are being misled' into believing dairy cattle graze in fields, says animal rights campaign

Some of the UK's biggest food firms are accused of misleading consumers after buying their milk from intensive industrial dairy units despite using images to promote their products that show cows grazing in green fields.

Tens of thousands of dairy cattle in England are kept in hangar-style sheds with no or very limited access to pasture. They will typically be milked three times daily, often on large electronic rotating milk parlours, producing up to 32 litres of milk each day.