Free-Range Chickens Aren't All That Free

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Service and Inspection Service compels producers of so-called free-range poultry to demonstrate that the birds in question have "been allowed access to the outside." Natural poultry contains no artificial ingredients or added color and is only minimally processed.

And that's it for USDA regulations.

Now, the department also publishes a document called "U.S. Trade Descriptions for Poultry" that outlines voluntary trade standards for chicken and chicken products. The trade descriptions specify six categories of poultry, each one comprising a production method (where the birds live) and a feeding system (what the birds eat).

To continue reading this article please click here

Source: Baltimoresun.com

Sign up for our
regular news updates

Latest Poultry Industry News

•   BIRD FLU: Smuggled Frozen Chicken Carry AI Risk
•   CAP Health Check to Ease Plight of Farmers
•   Demand for Cobb 500 ‘Quite Outstanding’
•   Russian Federation: Livestock and Products 2008
•   Research Consortium to Sequence Turkey Genome
•   Immediate Reform of UN Body Urged
•   AECL Publishes Annual Report
•   Bosnia-Hercegovina: Poultry and Products 2008
•   Eggs Factor Winner Announced
•   Rainbow Plans on Branding