In Italy almost all of the 500 million chickens sold in supermarkets They are disproportionate animals, with a flesh and white fat stripes, which reduce its nutritional value.
To take a photograph of the progress in the animal welfare of companies operating in the food field is the ChickenTrack 2024 of Compassion in World Farming (CIWF), which, among other things, highlights how Italy risks remaining behind other European countries in the progress for the well -being of chickens.
Even if they are Five Italian companies who communicated their advancements, including Eataly and Bofrost Italia for the first time in 2024, The adoption of improvement standards is still limited. Eataly reported high transition percentages on complex criteria: breeding density (90%), race (80%) and stunning (70%). Carrefour Italia He shared progress divided by criteria, while the Fileni Group continues to progress towards its objectives. However, the progress of Cortilia remain unchanged compared to 2023.
Ciwf’s report
In Europe, over 380 companies have signed the European Chicken Commitment etc. (that is, they have committed themselves to reducing the density of animals in the sheds, the use of stunning methods and to breed chickens to slower growth) and the report reports the progress of the 93 more influential.
At European level, France and the United Kingdom show greater commitment:
In the list there are:
The Italian companies that have signed medium-long term commitments (2-3 years) To convert the farms and comply with the best well -being requirements provided by the ECC are:
In our country the almost totality of the 500 million chickens sold in supermarkets are therefore disproportionate animals, with a flesh and white fat stripes, which reduce its nutritional value.
There is also a small amount of slow growing chickens sold in some supermarkets, such as Amadori’s Campese, recognizable by the label because they cost the double, and the biological ones present on supermarket shelves such as Naturasì.
In Italy, the transition towards best breeding standards on large scale will only be able to accelerate when the main supermarket chains will choose to promote the sale of a different chicken – explains Bianca Furlotti, of the food sector of Compassion in World Farming. Recent studies estimate an increase in production costs for ECA around 20-30%, but in this way a degree of well-being adequate to animals would be guaranteed, with a positive impact also on the quality of the meat.
To start this virtuous path, supermarket chains should take out long -term agreements with their suppliers, guaranteeing them an adequate sales volume such as to make the necessary changes in farms.
