sustain the alliance for better food and farming Fowl deeds The impact of chicken production and consumption on people and the environment Food Facts No9 A SUSTAIN PUBLICATION What are ‘Food Facts’? There is growing concern about the quality of the food are not comprehensive dossiers, they are “sign-posting” we eat and drink - a recent poll1 showed that a majority documents, indicating the current scope of the debate of people now believe that food safety is deteriorating. and offering sources of further information. Many People are also worried about the environment and organisations in the Sustain membership (see inside back farming practices, and how our food production and cover) provide some of the best sources of such distribution systems may be contributing to problems information, and the Food Facts series is guided by a such as transport pollution, global warming and the loss working party (listed below) to whom we are indebted. of wildlife. The buoyant market for healthier foods, and However, the views expressed here do not necessarily exponentially growing sales for organically produced represent those of every member of the working party, foods show that many of us are prepared to make or of the Sustain membership as a whole. We are grateful positive choices to help tackle these problems. But our to the following organisations for supporting the ability to do so depends, among other things, on having production of the Food Facts series: Government’s the facts. This report is the ninth in a planned series of Environmental Action Fund, the Esmée Fairbairn twelve, all of which aim to provide information about the Charitable Trust, the Cobb Charity, the Cecil Pilkington positive and negative effects of food production methods Charitable Trust and the Chapman Charitable Trust. For on our environment and society. To date the topics in the more information about Food Facts please contact us at series have included: milk, beef, apples, pears, soya, the address on the back cover, or see the Sustain website carrots, beer, lettuce and chicken meat. Sustain Food Facts at www.sustainweb.org Working party David Buffin (Pesticides Trust), Kathy Cowbrough (Community Nutrition Group), Chris Emerson (Agri-Environment Consultant), Vicki Hird (Sustain: The alliance for better food and farming), Tim Lobstein (Food Commission), Clive Peckam (East Anglia Food Link), Matthew Rayment (Royal Society for the Protection of Birds), Judy Steele (Henry Doubleday Research Association). Acknowledgements This publication would not have been possible without the help and advice of the Working Party above and: Phillip Andrews (Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food), Vernon Barber (National Farmers Union), Laure Barrington (Soil Association), Alison Bone (National Farmers Union), Peter Bradnock (British Poultry Meat Federation), Peter Crofts (Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food), Alisdair Cox (Grampian Country Foods Group), Alison Craig (Pesticides Trust), Gavin Dupee (Sustain: The alliance for better food and farming), Julie Fletcher (Photographs), Karen Frances (Sustain: The alliance for better food and farming), Richard Guy (Real Meat Company), Brigit Henderson (Landworker), Jack Kay (Veterinary Medicines Directorate), Jeanette Longfield (Sustain: The alliance for better food and farming), Peter Mundy (Soil Association), Lidia Peroni (Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food), Peter Rodman (National Farmers Union), Jill Smith (Health and Safety Executive), and Professor John Webster (Bristol University). Special thanks to Louise Stayte. Design: Ian Tokelove. Photographs copyright: Compassion in World Farming & Sustain: The alliance for better food and farming Supported by Published by Sustain: The alliance for better food and farming - 1999 Fowl deeds The impact of chicken production and consumption on people and the environment by Alexis Vaughan sustain the alliance for better food and farming Published by Sustain: The alliance for better food and farming - 1999 Contents Foreword by Professor John Webster ....................................................................vi Summary...................................................................................................................vii Introduction..............................................................................................................1 Production and consumption..................................................................................2 Broiler selection........................................................................................................3 The 43 day life of a chicken....................................................................................4 The broiler house.....................................................................................................4 Transport to the abattoir ..........................................................................................6 Processing chickens ..................................................................................................7 What’s in broiler feed? ............................................................................................11 Soya........................................................................................................................11 Meat and bone-meal ...............................................................................................12 Antibiotics ...............................................................................................................12 Probiotics ................................................................................................................14 Other feed additives ................................................................................................14 Chicken chain............................................................................................................16-17 Broilers and the environment.................................................................................18 Broiler litter - where does it go? ...............................................................................18 Cleaning and disinfecting .........................................................................................18 Dirty air...................................................................................................................19 Is it safe to eat chicken meat?................................................................................21 The big three contaminants......................................................................................21 Fatty food? ..............................................................................................................22 Supermarkets ...........................................................................................................23 Chickens fly further..................................................................................................24 Brazil.......................................................................................................................24 Thailand..................................................................................................................25 Comparison of broiler systems ...............................................................................28 What are the alternatives? .....................................................................................30 Free range?..............................................................................................................30 What should the consumer buy? ..............................................................................30 Broiler legislation.....................................................................................................30 Recommendations....................................................................................................31 Contacts.....................................................................................................................32 References.................................................................................................................34 iv Published by Sustain: The alliance for better food and farming - 1999 iv Foreword by Professor John Webster Once upon a time, not such a very long time ago, we knew how our food was produced. Even if we were not directly involved, we saw the crops growing in the fields, we saw the animals being fed, milked, killed and butchered. We may not have thought very deeply about, for example, the health, environmental and animal welfare implications of what we saw but, at least, we had some facts to go on when forming judgements about what to eat. The intensification of agriculture has undoubtedly brought cheaper food to more people. However, by destroying the direct, day-to- day association between producer and consumer it has also created new problems. It is easier for producers to disguise practices which would deter consumers from buying their products. It is also easier to hoodwink the consumer with false propaganda in support of any extreme opinion or vested interest. Nowhere are these problems more acute than in that most intensive and hidden form of ‘factory farming’, the broiler chicken industry. If we are to make sound and honourable decisions about the food we eat, we need food facts. It is the business of Sustain to do just that. This report on the industry that produces broiler chickens has been well researched; it is honest