KFC faces backlash over ‘misleading’ portrayal of chicken farming

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KFC has been accused of portraying poultry farming in a "misleading" manner after campaigners went back to a farm recently highlighted in a film by a YouTube celebrity.

YouTuber Niko Omilana visited a farm managed by meat manufacturer Moy Park, one of Europe's top poultry suppliers, which sells chicken to KFC in the Behind the Bucket film, which was released last December.

The film has been seen over 1 million times on the Joe news and entertainment website's Twitter account.

Birds are shown in a shed in the clip, with fresh straw covering the floor and perches offered as enrichment.

Undercover investigators working for the vegan food brand VFC visited the farm in February and reported finding terrible overcrowding, little fresh straw, and ill, lame, and dead birds.

VFC footage from inside the farm, which has a capacity of 380,000 birds, appears to show a sodden floor with animal waste and little or no fresh straw. It also appears to depict dead birds on the ground as well as sick, damaged, or lame birds. Bins containing dead chicken corpses were also captured on film.

Footage exposes the truth 

After examining VFC footage from the farm, Prof Andrew Knight of the University of Winchester's Centre for Animal Welfare noted that the birds appeared to be held at "very high stocking density, within a huge shed, with little to no environmental enrichment."

He added that the “severe crowding and barren environment meant these birds had very little room to move and to exercise highly motivated natural behaviors, such as foraging and exploring”.

The birds in the VFC clip demonstrated "behavioral indications of stress such as feather plucking and topical skin infection," according to Paul Roger, a veterinarian and founder member of the Animal Welfare Science, Ethics, and Law Veterinary Association.

Matthew Glover, VFC’s co-founder, said: “This is the most disingenuous marketing campaign we have seen for a long time. This portrayal of chicken farming is utterly misleading and seeks to reassure the public that all is well when nothing could be further from the truth.”

KFC responds 

In response to the allegations, KFC said: “We take the welfare of the chickens in our supply chain extremely seriously. We will continue to work with Moy Park to ensure these standards are being met and we will continue to drive transparency, which is an important part of our welfare work – removing misconceptions and ensuring accountability across the industry.”

A spokesperson for Moy Park told the Guardian: “Claims such as these are treated incredibly seriously and we immediately reviewed the footage along with independent audits and veterinary reports.

“This farm is managed to a very high standard and our preliminary findings show that it is meeting those standards. The birds are displaying natural behaviors and the farm adheres to all stocking, enrichment, and welfare requirements.”

The company said that staff visit sheds a minimum of three times a day to assess the health and welfare of the birds. “A small number of birds may die between those checks and are identified and removed during the next inspection.”

People in a shed at an inconvenient moment, according to the spokeswoman, could potentially have an impact on the birds' movements.

Stuart Jones, director of Upload agency, which represents Niko Omilana, said: “Whilst we take these allegations very seriously and will speak with KFC about these claims, the filming that our client took part inaccurately reported the conditions he saw and experienced on the day.”

According to a Joe Media spokeswoman, the footage it captured on behalf of KFC described the conditions they saw and experienced on that day.