Campbell Soup Company has announced that it is aiming to make a commitment to move its entire U.S. chicken meat supply to “a higher standard of animal welfare by 2024,” according to a company press release.
- Transitioning to strains of birds approved by Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) or the Global Animal Partnership (GAP) that are scientifically recognized as having higher welfare outcomes;
- Providing more space for chickens by reducing stocking density to a maximum of 6 lbs./sq. ft.;
- Offering improved environments including litter, lighting and enrichment that meet GAP’s new standards;
- Processing chickens in a manner that avoids pre-stun handling and instead uses multi-step controlled atmospheric stunning; and
- Using third party auditing to ensure compliance.
“We recognize and share consumers’ concerns about the health and welfare of animals. Campbell has made animal welfare a key part of our vision for an ethical and responsible supply chain, and we expect our suppliers to meet our requirements, while partnering with us to implement and execute more ambitious practices, said Niki King, Campbell’s Director of Responsible Sourcing in a news release.
“We’ll thoughtfully address the impact of this commitment on the farmers from which we source our ingredients. We will aspire to achieve these standards by 2024, but changes such as these are complicated and require time, investment, and partnership to succeed, and must align with our commitment to ensuring access to good, affordable food for our consumers,” King said.
To view Campbell’s Animal Welfare Guidelines, including commitments to source 100 percent “No Antibiotic Ever (NAE)” chicken for diced and canned chicken products by 2018 and to transition to exclusive use of cage-free eggs, click here.
