The biggest players in the fast food industry have been called out this week by World Animal Protection for failing on the welfare of chickens.
The non-profit assessed nine of the world’s biggest fast food chains – from Burger King to Domino’s – on their global chicken welfare policies and actions.
All the companies assessed in The Pecking Order were all found to be performing poorly with Domino’s outright failing.
Burger King, Starbucks and Subway were found to be the best of the fast food giants. However, they were still all listed as performing poorly overall.
McDonalds, Pizza Hut, Nando’s and KFC were in the next tier down, found to be performing very poorly with Domino’s below and “failing”.
The World Animal Protection said it selected these companies to assess because “they’re the big players in the industry and have the power, and the responsibility, to improve the lives of millions of chickens every year”.
Uncovering shocking results
During its investigation, the non-profit said it uncovered some “shocking facts” including the lack of global policy on improving chicken welfare in all fast food companies assessed.
Only three of the companies – Burger King, Starbucks and Subway – were found to demonstrate interest and ambition in addressing the main problems faced by factory farmed chickens.
However, World Animal Protection found these efforts were all limited to one region or country.
It also found that transparency is “universally poor” with all the fast food giants providing little or no information to show how they are performing when it comes to chicken welfare.
Changing the world one chicken at a time
World Animal Protection is urging the food industry via its #ChangeForChickens to commit to global policy changes that will improve the welfare of billions of chickens.
This includes getting rid of changes and ensuring that chickens have the space to behave more naturally. It also includes giving chickens the opportunity to enjoy natural behaviours, natural lighting and high-quality bedding.
Crucially, it aims to ensure that chickens are slaughtered using more humane methods.
