LETTERS – Eat more chicken legs!

Reference your reader’s letter February 18 2021 “Why not source from the UK?”

In respect of chicken I can shed some light on the issue albeit a little technical.

Much is due to carcase imbalance. In the UK we eat more chicken breast than the dark meat of thighs and drumsticks so much so that we have to export these or even worse dispose of them in other ways!

Many ready meal suppliers do not cook the chicken themselves, it is supplied ready-cooked, and capacity is insufficient to meet the demand in the UK.

Creating more capacity is not simple or economical. To produce more chicken will lead to bigger issues.

One important fact will be an increase in feed sources, for example soya protein produced in countries like Brazil. Due to the feed conversion ratio it is less of a carbon footprint to use imported chicken breast from Brazil than the soya to feed the chickens.

There are other points to consider. Did you know that over half of the UK’s chickens are being produced by companies fully or partly controlled by US agribusinesses who are also major producers in Brazil?

Interestingly chicken from Thailand has been imported in vast quantities into the UK (either direct or through Netherlands) for the food industry too.

The quality produced in many of these countries are from facilities equal if not better than those in the UK!

Think local is sometimes really difficult – eat more chicken legs will help!

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