CLICK onto a Fresh British Chicken to find out how they are produced.

All the chicken meat that is produced in the UK, is grown to a standard that is more stringent then anywhere else in the world. That's not the editor’s or farmer opinion, it's a fact and such high standards to the consumer means "traceability".  In today's modern ever changing world the ability to track the source is paramount if we are to avoid another farming disaster like B.S.E. 

The chicken industry has always known to some extent, the origins of what was fed and administered. This information was not always logged, but generally the British poultry industry has always kept good records and many farmers can go back fifteen or more years and view flock records. 

Today, traceability is taken very seriously by all sectors of farming and unquestionably, British farming and its chicken production units, lead the world in relation to animal welfare and hygiene standards. 

U.K. Chicken growers are proud of the fact that we produce such healthy food, but what we do not like, is the public being mislead into thinking that all the chicken they eat is reared to that same high standard.

The FRESH BRITISH CHICKEN that is sold in our shops and supermarkets will have been grown with total traceability. Whatever the British birds have eaten, or may have been administered, will have been logged and those supplies monitored and tested to make sure that they are safe to be put into the food chain terminating in human consumption. That certainly cannot be said, for a lot of the chicken that is imported into this country.

The public are being misled, PACKED IN BRITAIN is totally different to a fresh British chicken. In reality this produce will almost certainly have been brought in from abroad and its origin is often hard to detect.

It is common practice in the U.K. to import chicken meat from these far away shores and then repack it again at one of many distribution centers. This product is then shipped to Ireland and other countries, only to be sold on again. This time the unsuspecting consumer has no idea of the meats origin. 

Airlines meals, fast food outlets, sandwich suppliers, pie makers and other prepared products are made using foreign chicken and sold under a British brand name.

I can tell you that if you were to ask 99% of the foreign meat importers to provide full trace ability records of the meat that they buy, then they would be unable to do so and any importer wishing to challenge this, or thinking that the above statement is not true may do so. I will post their reply in these pages.    

Forty percent of the chicken meat eaten in this country comes from abroad. Its origin could be as far away as Brazil or Thailand were regulations are not as strict as ours. High standards unfortunately have a cost. Chicken production in eastern shore costs about 39pence per kilo compared with 49 pence in the UK.

The British farmer could compete by lowering his cost base. However the only way that could be achieved is by lowering the standards to which the bird is grown and that is some thing that the farmer or the public do not want see.

So it is by education that these pages seek to advice the public and trust that the next time you buy a chicken you ask, IS IT BRITISH.   

Pages in this section of the web site will explain how chicken meat is commercially produced in the UK. Some of the pages will not be to every one's liking. However, everyone is entitled to his or her points of view and they are here to inform the public honestly on how the British farmer produces chicken for the table.

You can judge for yourself the standard to which it is grown, but hopefully it shows that it is grown to the very highest of highest standards. 

Constructive feed back from the public/farmers/trade is most welcome and you can do this from the main heading bar.

Fact:-   In 1999  Chicken imports from Thailand are up by 73 per cent and from Brazil by 54 per cent.