New ‘welfare washing’ report reveals how UK’s supermarkets are misleading the public on chicken welfare

The report references a new investigation into six UK chicken farms, also conducted by The Humane League UK, showing that the use of fast-growing breeds of chicken, known as ‘frankenchickens’, remains a serious welfare issue.

The investigation found chickens with bad burns, acute lameness and deformities linked to overbreeding. The welfare problems discovered are typical of frankenchickens, which we’re asking supermarkets to ban.

Meanwhile, in recent years, most major UK supermarkets have changed their sourcing requirements to give some chickens more space on farms, reducing stocking densities from 38kg/m2 to 30kg/m2. Retailers have used this shift to market their standard-tier products with claims such as “higher welfare”, “happier and healthier” and “room to thrive”.

However, more space for chickens is failing to address severe animal suffering while also misleading the public.

A survey of 2,004 people conducted by Research Without Borders found nearly half of those surveyed (46%) incorrectly believed that such supermarket labels for conventional frankenchickens represented healthier, slower-growing breeds.

In the UK, there is no statutory definition of the term “higher welfare”, nor any standardised Method of Production labelling, leaving retailers able to exploit subjective and emotive language to welfare-wash their chicken products.

The report outlines how the UK Government could protect consumers, support farmers and reform chicken welfare through direct policy intervention.

The measures include implementing mandatory Method of Production labelling and leading on welfare reform by committing to slower-growing chicken breeds in government contracts. Read the report in full here.