The survey - whose findings are published in the March edition of the magazine Deco Proteste, which is part of the European organisation - received 8,000 responses in Portugal, Germany, Belgium, Spain, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands and Sweden.

In Portugal, the responses reveal that 72% of Portuguese people consider that they are not informed, or are poorly informed, about the existing legislation on animal welfare and that 61% think that it would be very important to have new laws to guarantee the well-being of farm animals.

For 55% of nationals surveyed, animal welfare is considered very important and it is in the purchase of eggs that this concern has a great influence (33%), followed by milk and dairy products (30%) and fresh poultry (27%).

Around 60% of Portuguese people said they had already noticed claims about animal welfare on food labels, but only 17% said they had confidence in them, while 22% said they did not trust or had little confidence in the information.

Compared to the other seven countries analyzed in the study, Portugal led in meat and fish consumption, with 50% of respondents saying they eat meat or fish every day, 12% higher than the other countries.

Regarding meat, poultry is the Portuguese's favourite, with 35% stating that they eat it three to seven days a week, followed by fresh fish (14%).

The international group Euroconsumers, which brings together consumer protection organizations from Portugal, Spain, Italy, Belgium and Brazil, carried out this study in partnership with the Bureau Européen des Unions de Consommateurs (BEUC) and the International Consumer Research & Testing (ICRT).