Freedom Foods promotes slow-growing chickens in UK supermarkets

Last April 22, the Freedom Foods group of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) wrote to all UK supermarkets to stop selling faster-growing breeds of chicken labelled "standard" and "standard plus" in favour of a slower-growing alternative.

The research, carried out by Kantar Worldpanel for RSPCA Freedom Food, shows that chicken welfare is still on the priority list of even the most budget-conscious consumers.

RSPCA senior chicken welfare scientist, Dr Marc Cooper, said: "It's great news that people are supporting better chicken welfare by choosing more Freedom Food over standard chicken than ever.

"We've seen an incredible commitment from supermarkets like Sainsbury's, Tesco and Morrisons to improving the lives of chickens, by offering their customers a higher welfare option in Freedom Food."

Faster-growing breeds of chicken are most commonly used in "standard" and so-called "standard plus" production. These birds reach slaughter weight in around six weeks and are dogged with significant health and welfare problems which includes

high growth rate that can lead to lameness, heart and circulation problems, and cause sudden death due to heart attacks.

While "standard plus" chickens are often provided with natural light, environmental enrichment and more space compared to "standard" chicken, these on-farm improvements do not make up for the real benefits of the RSPCA welfare standards used by Freedom Food.

In total, there are around 600 RSPCA standards specifically developed for the improvement of chicken welfare—from hatching to transport and slaughter.