Jodi Darwood
Factory farming conditions may be putting customer health at risk due to breeding ground for bacteria.
With faeces deep on the floor and sick or dead animals often not removed, the conditions that chickens are raised in are not only horrifying for chickens, they are a breeding ground for bacteria.
These conditions are found in factory farms supplying supermarkets such as Lidl, meaning the impact on public health could be significant.
To find out whether concerns over consumer health were grounded, animal protection group, Albert Schweitzer Foundation, launched an investigation into chicken sold in Lidl stores across Germany. Samples were sent to an independent laboratory…and the findings were shocking.
The laboratory examined 51 chicken products from Lidl Germany's own brand chicken. Disgustingly, the faecal germ intestinal enterococci were detected in 26% of the samples.
But what really stood out is that 71% of the samples were contaminated with bacteria that’s antibiotic-resistant.
It’s a worrying fact, especially in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, that antibiotic resistance is now among the top ten causes of death worldwide. It occurs when antibiotics are given to an animal or human and the drugs don’t kill all of the bacteria causing the infection. The remaining bacteria learn how to survive the drug, eventually becoming resistant to its effects.
While antibiotics are essential for treating sick animals, they are overused on factory farms to counteract the filthy conditions that could otherwise result in sickness.
The overuse of antibiotics in factory farming is a huge risk, especially alongside the bacteria that is hiding in the meat on supermarket shelves. But these risks don’t seem to be taken seriously by supermarkets like Lidl.
This isn’t just a problem outside the UK. Factory farms produce the majority of meat on our supermarket shelves. Improving the conditions for chickens raised for food needs to be top priority. That’s why we’re calling on Lidl to adopt the Better Chicken Commitment (BCC).
To support our campaign pressuring supermarkets like Lidl to sign up to better chicken, join us to receive emails with ways you can help.
