Fast food joints in hot soup over chicken welfare

Five global fast food restaurants operating in Kenya are serving chicken that have not met animal welfare protection guidelines.

According to the Pecking Order report 2022 released by World Animal Protection-Africa, majority of the food companies have failed to implement meaningful changes to improve welfare of chickens in their supply chain in Kenya contrary to what they implement in the developed countries.

The research paints a picture of double standards of the brands where they are keen on animal welfare in Europe but are lax on the animals in Kenya.

“These global brands especially in Europe are adhering to animal welfare policies but they are reluctant in implementing the same guidelines for their Kenyan market. And the trend is similar for the majority in developing countries and even China,” says Dr Victor Yamo, farming campaigns manager at WAP-Africa.

The report shows Burger King, Domino’s, KFC, McDonald’s, Pizza Hut, Starbucks and Subways to be performing well in serving chicken that meets the animal protection guidelines in Europe but the same does not apply for the Kenyan market.

Rated poorly

Burger King, Dominos, KFC, Pizza Hut, and SubWay are global franchises operating in Kenya which were overall rated poorly in terms of performance as well as commitments and targets to the welfare of  chickens. Among the local franchises, Kenchic scored high at 83 percent on implementation of its commitments and targets as Carrefour distantly followed at 33 percent while Foodplus, Naivas, Quickmart and other companies scored zero on the commitments and targets.

The study shows Germany as the best performing on implementation of the guidelines with average overall percentage score of 37 percent while France (36 percent), Spain (23 percent) as Italy and USA followed closely at 19 percent while Kenya rated below two percent.

According to Yamo, a chicken is categorized as to have met the commitment requirement if it was not bred in a caged or multi-tiered system and was actually slaughtered by humans instead of any other means including electricity.

Other requirements include provision of effective enrichment including enough lightening and adequate perching space during its breeding, use of slow growing breeds, maximum stocking as well as third party auditing of the chicken during breeding as well as during slaughtering.

Yamo says one of the reasons behind the discrepancies in commitment is laxity of key stakeholders including the government in following up to ensure implementation of animal protection policies.

“In Europe and USA, there are laws which keep food companies in check to ensure they follow the commitments and there are repercussions for those who fail to follow the policies,” says Yamo.

He says Kenya needs to put in place mechanisms that will force food companies to follow the welfare policies and safety guidelines.

Code of practice

He says one way is to review the food animal welfare code of practice that was developed in 2018 by KEBS which drives farm animal production to allign it with global systems to meet international standards.

Aligning will ensure that global franchises have to implement the commitments  across the globe even in Kenya. Yamo says animal welfare is critical because circumstances around animal breeding determine its productivity and also its safety for consumption.

“Failure to follow these guidelines like having too many chickens in a caged area with no proper lighting results in the release of some pathogens that lead to pandemic diseases and carbon release which contributes to greenhouse gas emission. Poor welfare of these animals further leads to overuse of antibiotics which affects humans,” he says.

Doctor Sharon Tsigadi, the general manager of Rosemark division of Farmers choice, which is the department responsible for pig production and animal’s feeds says the company has been working towards meeting the targets and commitments of animal welfare protection.

Quality products

She says they ensure the products that reach the consumer are of good quality products and the animals have met all the conditions.

“We make animals that we breed internal feed properly, have the right housing and access to veterinary care. And when they get to our slaughter house, we work with government inspectors to ensure the meat is inspected so the quality is guaranteed. That is how we have maintained our quality and name, “she says.

Tsigadi says the company has moved from internal provision of its requirements to small scale farmers who are currently providing 80 percent of the animals. She says to ensure that farmers too adhere to the animal protection guidelines, they provide the genetics, the technical expertise as well as the feeds and guarantees.

“This way, we influence the entire value chain and ensure the quality of the products. We also transport the animals by ourselves or partial refund for those who bring them to us. We do not give room for violation of animal’s rights either at breeding, transport and even slaughtering levels,” she adds.