A major change to the RSPCA welfare standards will improve the welfare of millions of chickens on the RSPCA Assured scheme - and should also make meat safer.
A procedure known as ‘thinning’ (where a proportion of chickens are removed from a shed for slaughter earlier than the rest) is no longer allowed for animal welfare reasons on farms rearing to RSPCA standards.
Also, a study by the European Food Safety Authority reported that thinning is linked to increased rates of campylobacter in chickens.
The bacteria is reported to be the dominant cause of food poisoning in the UK - estimated to be responsible for more than 280,000 cases of food poisoning every year, and four out of five cases result from contaminated poultry according to the Food Standards Agency.