Aldi, Lidl and Sainsbury’s are among the supermarkets to break its silence after it emerged burnt chickens had been living in their own waste on farms they worked with. A BBC investigation released on Thursday found that millions of supermarket chickens had suffered from hock burns, which is a skin condition brought on by ammonia from excrement.
The condition can sometimes be seen in a third of the birds in some supermarkets, the investigation also found. As part of its probe, the 10 largest supermarket chains in Britain were asked about its presence on shelves, and Aldi and Co-op reported the highest levels.
Meanwhile, though, five supermarkets refused altogether. The investigation saw the British Retail Consortium say it was taking the issue “very seriously”.
The supermarket chains that did respond to the probe described how they would change their policy on the chicken, including a Co-op spokesperson who said “every effort” was made in order to minimise hock burn on its poultry.
An Aldi spokesperson added that it would work closely with suppliers in order to “ensure continuous improvement in our food… products”.
Lidl was among the stores not to respond to the BBC’s request for data, but according to the broadcaster had been the subject of shop spot checks by animal welfare group Open Cages.
The group asked volunteers to check more than 500 whole chickens in 22 Lidl stores in nine different towns and cities between September and November last year.
Its co-founder, Connor Jackson, said shoppers found 74 percent of its chickens had the condition. It led him to say many retailers “source chickens raised in heavily-crowded sheds, bred for extremely rapid growth, and this is routinely causing chickens immense suffering”.
As a result, Lidl has been urged to sign up to the Better Chicken Commitment (BCC), which is a set of RSPCA-backed standards for the industry.
A spokesperson for Lidl added: “The figures provided by Open Cages strongly conflict with our own data, which is lower than industry figures publicly available.”
While the company declined to share its hock burn figures, the spokesperson concluded: “We take animal welfare extremely seriously, and the health of animals in our supply chain is closely monitored, with regular independent audits carried out to ensure that expected standards are being met.”
In total, five firms did not provide specific figures: Asda, Morrisons, Lidl, Iceland and Ocado.
Of the five that did, Co-op recorded hock burn in 36.7 percent of its poultry. A spokesperson for the company said: “We work with our supplier to make every effort to minimise the occurrence of hock markings.”
Aldi’s figures were around 33.5 percent, with a spokesperson noting it recorded and published the data to “ensure transparency”. They added: “We take animal welfare extremely seriously and work closely with our suppliers to ensure continuous improvement in our food and non-food products.”
Tesco reported a rate of 26.3 within its chickens but declined to comment. Sainsbury’s, which found hock burn in one in five of its chickens, added it was “very open about the progress we are making in our annual health and welfare reports and last year took a significant step by moving all of our by Sainsbury’s chickens to have 20 percent more space than the industry standard”.
Waitrose recorded the lowest annual figure of 2.7 percent. The company told the BBC: “Today, the overwhelming majority of our birds are free of any hock marking, and it’s our ambition to make hock burn a thing of the past.”
Andrew Opie, director of food and sustainability at the British Retail Consortium, said: “Our members take their responsibilities to animal welfare very seriously, and expect high standards, independently audited, from all of their suppliers.
“They are committed to continuously improving the quality and welfare standards of their ranges.”
