The RSPCA has urged 18 major food companies to reconsider their decision to drop a pledge to replace fast-growing ‘Frankenchickens” with healthier, slow growing breeds.
In the organisation’s letter to retailers – which included KFC, Nando’s and Burger King – the RSPCA said “animal welfare is not an optional extra”.
This comes after the companies pulled out of the Better Chicken Commitment and set up the industry-led Sustainable Chicken Forum.
According to the charity, the demand for chicken in the UK is ever growing but the vast majority of the poultry meat eaten comes from so-called ‘Frankenchickens’.
According to the RSPCA, these chickens “grow so fast they can struggle under their own weight, and are so heavy they struggle to do the normal things that chickens do, like perching, being active and simply just walking properly and without pain”.
Many are prove to other health issues such as heart defects and circulation, the organisation said.
In addition to these welfare issues, the RSPCA said the practice “is wasteful, unethical, unnecessary and worse for the environment”.
RSPCA director of advocacy and prevention Thomas Schultz-Jagow said: “This is a shameful blow to animal welfare which condemns hundreds of millions of chickens to lives of unnecessary misery and suffering.
“These companies have put profits over welfare and now consumers must choose between brands which think animal suffering is a price worth paying for their bottom line and those who put welfare first.”
“These companies say they are focusing on sustainability but sustainability includes animal welfare. Sustainability is about ethical, responsible production which encompasses animal welfare.”
According to the RSPCA, fast food giant KFC alone, which aims to source 82,700t of chicken meat from British farms by the end of this year, “could improve the welfare of an estimated 40 million birds if they were to switch to slow-growing breeds”.
The charity noted that consumers do care about these issues, citing a 2023 Savanta poll which found that three in four (77%) UK adults agree that they are appalled that chickens farmed for their meat are suffering because of fast growth rates.
Schultz-Jagow added:” As global demand for meat is expected to grow by 70% by 2050, time is running out to create a compassionate and sustainable food system.