Unhealthy and Inhumane: KFC Doesn't Do Anyone Right
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals - PETA
July 19, 2006
By Heather Moore
The Center for Science in the Public Interest has just filed a class-action lawsuit against KFC because its food is high in trans fats, artery-clogging substances found in foods made with, or fried in, partially hydrogenated oils. There’s no doubt that KFC chicken is unhealthy —an individual-size popcorn chicken from KFC has a whopping 21 grams of fat (including 4.5 grams of trans fat), 380 calories, 60 milligrams of cholesterol, and 1,200 milligrams of sodium—but health concerns aren’t the only reason why conscientious consumers should stay away from KFC. If you care about the way chickens are treated before they are butchered, battered, and sold in a bucket, you’ll want to steer clear of the colonel.
You see, KFC has also been in legal trouble for misleading customers about the way it treats chickens. In July 2003, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) filed a lawsuit in California Superior Court to stop KFC from making deceptive statements about their treatment of chickens. As a result of the lawsuit, KFC was forced to stop telling consumers that chickens raised for KFC suffer no pain or injuries; that the humane treatment of birds is ‘ensured,’ that KFC prohibits its suppliers from giving chickens growth-promoting substances, that KFC has had an animal-welfare policy in place for nearly a decade, and more.
Yes, you read that right. KFC had been telling consumers that its chickens suffered no pain. Sound ludicrous? It is.
The 850 million chickens killed for KFC each year are crammed by the tens of thousands into sheds that stink of ammonia fumes from accumulated waste. They are given barely any room to move—each bird lives in the amount of space equivalent to a standard sheet of paper. They have their sensitive beaks seared off with hot blades (and no pain relievers) and routinely suffer broken bones from being bred to be top heavy, from callous handling when workers roughly grab birds by their legs and stuff them into crates, and from being shackled upside down at slaughterhouses.
By the time the birds are old enough for slaughter, their bodies are so fragile that their bones snap when they are grabbed and stuffed in crates for transport. During slaughter, their throats are cut and they are often dumped in a tank of scalding water while they’re still conscious.
As the leader in the chicken industry, KFC has the responsibility to ensure that chickens raised for its buckets are protected from the worst abuses. First and foremost, KFC should demand that its suppliers implement a kinder method of chicken slaughter: controlled-atmosphere killing (CAK). This method puts chickens to sleep by removing the oxygen from their environment and replacing it with an inert gas, like nitrogen or argon. University of Guelph professor Dr. Ian Duncan, who is North America’s leading expert on bird welfare and a former animal welfare advisor for KFC, says CAK is “the most stress-free, humane method of killing poultry ever developed.”
Five of KFC’s animal welfare advisors have resigned in the past two years because the company refuses to make any significant improvements. According to Dr. Duncan, “Progress was extremely slow, which is why I resigned... It was always going to be happening later. They just put off actually creating standards... I suspect that upper management didn’t really think that animal welfare was important.”
If you’re concerned about your health or the animals’, KFC is not the place for you.
Heather Moore is senior writer for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), 501 Front St., Norfolk, VA, 23510; www.KFCCruelty.com.
The Center for Science in the Public Interest has just filed a class-action lawsuit against KFC because its food is high in trans fats, artery-clogging substances found in foods made with, or fried in, partially hydrogenated oils. There’s no doubt that KFC chicken is unhealthy —an individual-size popcorn chicken from KFC has a whopping 21 grams of fat (including 4.5 grams of trans fat), 380 calories, 60 milligrams of cholesterol, and 1,200 milligrams of sodium—but health concerns aren’t the only reason why conscientious consumers should stay away from KFC. If you care about the way chickens are treated before they are butchered, battered, and sold in a bucket, you’ll want to steer clear of the colonel.
You see, KFC has also been in legal trouble for misleading customers about the way it treats chickens. In July 2003, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) filed a lawsuit in California Superior Court to stop KFC from making deceptive statements about their treatment of chickens. As a result of the lawsuit, KFC was forced to stop telling consumers that chickens raised for KFC suffer no pain or injuries; that the humane treatment of birds is ‘ensured,’ that KFC prohibits its suppliers from giving chickens growth-promoting substances, that KFC has had an animal-welfare policy in place for nearly a decade, and more.
Yes, you read that right. KFC had been telling consumers that its chickens suffered no pain. Sound ludicrous? It is.
The 850 million chickens killed for KFC each year are crammed by the tens of thousands into sheds that stink of ammonia fumes from accumulated waste. They are given barely any room to move—each bird lives in the amount of space equivalent to a standard sheet of paper. They have their sensitive beaks seared off with hot blades (and no pain relievers) and routinely suffer broken bones from being bred to be top heavy, from callous handling when workers roughly grab birds by their legs and stuff them into crates, and from being shackled upside down at slaughterhouses.
By the time the birds are old enough for slaughter, their bodies are so fragile that their bones snap when they are grabbed and stuffed in crates for transport. During slaughter, their throats are cut and they are often dumped in a tank of scalding water while they’re still conscious.
As the leader in the chicken industry, KFC has the responsibility to ensure that chickens raised for its buckets are protected from the worst abuses. First and foremost, KFC should demand that its suppliers implement a kinder method of chicken slaughter: controlled-atmosphere killing (CAK). This method puts chickens to sleep by removing the oxygen from their environment and replacing it with an inert gas, like nitrogen or argon. University of Guelph professor Dr. Ian Duncan, who is North America’s leading expert on bird welfare and a former animal welfare advisor for KFC, says CAK is “the most stress-free, humane method of killing poultry ever developed.”
Five of KFC’s animal welfare advisors have resigned in the past two years because the company refuses to make any significant improvements. According to Dr. Duncan, “Progress was extremely slow, which is why I resigned... It was always going to be happening later. They just put off actually creating standards... I suspect that upper management didn’t really think that animal welfare was important.”
If you’re concerned about your health or the animals’, KFC is not the place for you.
Heather Moore is senior writer for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), 501 Front St., Norfolk, VA, 23510; www.KFCCruelty.com.
Print
Email
