About two-thirds of chickens on sale in the UK have been found to be contaminated with the food poisoning bug, campylobacter. These newly published findings by the Food Standards Agency (FSA) are especially interesting in the light of recent research which suggests that farm animals are more prone to campylobacter infection when stressed.
Scientists at Bristol University have found that “there is reliable evidence that stress increases susceptibility to bacterial infection, including campylobacter”. This could include keeping animals in a poor environment or feeding them a poor diet.
The FSA took over 3,000 chicken samples for its study in 2007 and 2008. According to the FSA, campylobacter is the most common bacterial cause of food poisoning, causing about 55,000 cases of illness in the UK a year. Chicken meat is believed to be the most common cause of illness.
So are chicken factory farms contributing to our food safety woes? To many, it stands to reason that animals will be below their best health-wise if they are kept in barren, overcrowded conditions. They will suffer too.
What is less well publicised is that ‘cheap’ chicken is no longer the low fat option that many believe it is. A typical supermarket chicken today contains nearly three times more fat than in 1970. During the same period, the protein content of a typical factory-reared bird has dropped by 30%. Indeed, they have now been shown to contain more fat than protein. Compare this with an organically reared chicken, which has 25% less fat than an intensively reared bird and has the protein/fat ratio round the right way. You can see that the way a bird is reared really can make a difference to the quality of the food produced.
How lamentable then that the European Union failed to stop the over-industrialisation of chickens ‘grown’ for meat. And now the situation for broiler chickens in the UK could get worse as a result. British birds are currently reared to a stocking density that equates to about 19 birds per square metre of floor space. This is an appallingly high stocking density. New EU rules allow 21 birds in the same space.
Thank goodness then, that increasing numbers of consumers are being inspired to help chickens to a better life and help themselves to better food. Sales of higher welfare chickens have shown a dramatic increase since the brilliant television work of our friend and celebrity chef, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall. And it’s good that this trend seems to be holding up in the face of the recession. But more needs to be done. Compassion in World Farming is working tirelessly with Hugh to get a fair deal for chickens. Please, if you’ve not already done so, visit Hugh’s Chicken Out! Campaign website and help us bring an end to ‘cheap’ chicken factories in favour of higher welfare, higher quality alternatives such as free range.
