Supermarkets, NOAH | Races against Rema products:

In recent days, Nettavisen has written that supermarket chains, both Rema 1000, Coop and Norgesgruppen, are coming under fire for the chicken they sell. The criticism refers both to the breed of chicken from which the producers make meat, and to the fact that Rema’s chicken meat is no better than others.

Rema himself claims that the Hubbard chicken breed, from which Solvinge produces meat, is better than the Ross 308. The latter breed is used for meat produced by Den stolte hane and Prior, which are sold by Coop and Kiwi, among others.

Read also: Kiwi and Coop stamps as worst: – It carries a great responsibility

The meat packages say, among other things, “Thank you for choosing animal welfare”, while the egg cartons say “We improve animal welfare.” This infuriates Noah’s vet and leader Siri Martinsen.

– This is misleading marketing, and it is a direct lie to present it as “choosing animal welfare” by buying chicken! tells Nettavisen and elaborates:

– You do not help animals buying meat in Rema. There is nothing about Hubbard or other broilers that has to do with animal welfare.

Broilers are fast-growing chickens that are raised industrially for the sake of meat.

See Rema 1000’s answer below in the case.

Also read: Discuss for feathers to flutter over which chickens are better before they are eaten

Believe that consumers are exploited

The Animal Welfare Alliance labels Solvinge’s chicken meat as “not suitable for animals.” Still, Live Kleveland of the Animal Protection Alliance believes the Hubbard chickens have fared better than Ross 308.

Martinsen in Noah believes that this does not paint the right picture.

– Hubbard, Ross 308 and other broilers are both intensively raised to provide plenty of meat, and the shading between them does not eliminate the problems for the birds. Parents of all of these must starve to avoid breaking their legs, he says.

She notes that the global genetic company Aviagen is behind the harvest of Ross 308 and Hubbard.

The problem with broilers is, according to Martinsen, that chickens are bred to have a large amount of meat on the breast and thigh, which creates several physiological problems. She says that it is against the Animal Welfare Act to genetically manipulate animals in such a way that they cannot have normal behavior.

– Ross 308 is the most intensive breed and therefore “worst”. However, there is no coverage in the research to state that other breeds, which are close to the most extreme, have far fewer problems, he says.

– It is reprehensible that Rema exploits people’s desire for animal welfare, claiming that intensive breeds are the same as animal welfare.

Also read: Foreign meat accusations are being heavily criticized by the Norwegian Food Safety Authority

– Handling

Martinsen believes that it is wrong for Rema to lead consumers to believe that the chicken breeds that Rema uses in the chicken meat they sell are a slow-growing breed.

– Using the word “slow growth” is consumer manipulation, he says.

Martinsen believes that both the Ross 308 and other broiler breeds are contrary to the Animal Welfare Act and should in fact be banned.

“If supermarket chains really want to promote animal welfare, they should promote vegetarian products that taste the same and try to reduce chicken sales,” he says, adding:

– What we see now is that producers increase chicken sales in total by making consumers believe that they are doing animals a favor by buying meat, he says.

Although Hubbard chickens may have less problems than Ross 308s when they are about 20 days old, they do get older and heavier than Ross 308s. Martinsen believes that both breeds are at risk for many of the same problems recently before be slaughtered.

– Research from Germany shows that all common broiler breeds struggle with organ failure and bone problems and that the difference between them is small. We must also bear in mind that the same breeds are used all over the world, he says.

Also read: Rema announces better animal welfare: “Not friendly to animals” according to Animal Welfare Alliance

Defend the sale

Calle Hägg, public relations and communications manager for Rema 1000, tells Nettavisen that they see development positively where more people choose vegetarian alternatives.

– At the same time, chicken is one of the most popular dishes that Norwegians eat for dinner, and then we think it’s great when producers take steps to make the animals feel better, he says.

Hägg believes that Solvinge’s Hubbard chickens are stronger and more active than the Ross 308 chickens they sold before, and that far fewer get sick.

– This is what we mean when we say that Solvinge has improved animal welfare, which we know concerns our customers, and that is what the campaign is about, he says.

Kjell Stokbakken, CEO of Norsk Kylling, which produces Solvinge products, also responds to Noah’s criticism.

– The Hubbard chicken breed grows significantly slower and lives 41 percent longer than the normal chicken used in Norway – Ross 308 says.

Proud of investment

He says they have documentation showing significant improvement in animal welfare throughout the chicken’s life cycle and the improvement is especially great in the last phase of life.

– A clear and simple example of this is that today we need three million fewer chickens to produce the same amount of meat as before. Hubbard’s natural anatomy produces healthy, more active and stronger chickens. For us, this is better animal welfare, he believes.

Stokbakken says they are proud that their investment has improved animal welfare by more than 30 percent of the chicken sold in the Norwegian grocery trade, as Norsk Kylling has about 30 percent of the market in Norway.

It also refers to a report from the Norwegian Food Safety Authority from June this year, to which Nettavisen has been given access. Here it is stated, among other things, that the introduction of a new hybrid has led to a reduction in various welfare problems among broilers slaughtered at Norsk Kylling AS.

“Gauldal’s experience from the Norwegian Food Safety Authority department is that animal welfare for broilers of the Hubbard JA 787 hybrid has improved compared to Ross 308,” the report also states.

– The claim is incorrect

Marianne Kulø, a civil agronomist and leader of the Animal Welfare Alliance, responds to Noah’s statements in this case. Kulø acknowledges that slower growing breeds are not without problems and says they are still intensive, but they still believe Hubbard is a good fit.

– The slower growing breeds in Norway, Hubbard and Ranger Gold, have significantly lower mortality and health conditions than Ross 308. For Rema’s chicken production, Hubbard reports 39 percent less mortality, and this despite longer shelf life, she says.

– These slower-growing breeds have been shown to have so little pectoral muscle that they dominate sitting in a duck, something Ross 308 is too heavy to handle, he notes.

Noah’s leader, Martinsen, believes, as mentioned, that both Hubbard and Ross 308 risk having many of the same problems as of late before being slaughtered. Kulø at Animal Welfare Alliance, on the other hand, says that Hubbard, in contrast to Ross 308, manages to be more active in the last life.

– Exercise is beneficial to health and this probably contributes to significantly lower mortality. For Hubbard, Martinsen’s claim is therefore directly wrong, but it is quite possible that there are instances of slower-growing breeds that perform less well for various reasons, he says.

Feel free to give your opinion in the survey before reading further, the article continues below.

Disagree

The online newspaper asked Martinsen at Noah what he thinks about the Animal Welfare Alliance supporting Rema’s sale of Hubbard, and he thinks it is better than Ross 308.

– It is important that organizations represent the suffering that animals are exposed to in the meat industry, so that people really understand what animals are going through, he replies.

She says that all broiler breeds are extremely bred and the birds have trouble moving.

– In addition, they have a very poor environment in stimuli where they do not get an outlet for their needs, and most of the chickens are slaughtered with CO2, which corrodes and causes panic and suffocation. This is not “animal welfare,” says Martinsen.

Read more about the case here:

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