Whole Foods has been named the most “humane” grocery store from among the top 25 United States supermarket chains by annual sales, according to a survey conducted by the World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA), the world’s largest alliance of animal welfare organizations. The survey targeted 200 grocery stores in 34 states.

The survey tracked products in the following categories:
* Dairy
* Eggs
* Unprocessed meat and poultry
* Processed meat and poultry (bacon, ham, hot dogs)

WSPA used a point system, based on the quality and variety of the food products available on store shelves, to rate the stores. The survey also found that from 2008 to 2009, the amount of humanely produced food offerings increased 23%.

According to the survey, Whole Foods offered twice as many humanely-labeled products per store ( 83) as the two grocers tied for second place (Shaw’s Supermarkets and Publix Super Markets) did. The lowest-ranked grocery store was Save-A-Lot, which has no humanely labeled products in its stores.

Following Whole Foods, the survey found the most humane grocery stores are as follows: Hy-Vee, Ralphs, Trader Joe’s, Kroger, Giant Food Stores, Stop & Shop, Vons, Safeway, Meijer, Giant Eagle, SuperTarget, Albertsons, HEB, Winn-Dixie, Pathmark, Food Lion, Albertsons – LLC, Walmart Supercenters, BJ’s Wholesale Club, and Sam’s Club.

The report can be downloaded here.