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Date Published: 26/11/2024

98% of Lidl chicken breasts in Spain were found to have abnormalities

Of the 6,097 trays analysed in the study, the majority showed ‘white streaks’, meaning an abnormality in the meat

In a study conducted by the Animal Welfare Observatory (Observatorio del Bienestar de los Animales or OBA), it was discovered that 97.9% of the chicken trays analysed in Lidl stores in Spain show white streaks, which, though not harmful to human health, do reduce nutritional value.

The white streaking which was found in the chickens signifies a myopathy – a disease derived from muscular abnormalities – that reduces the quality of the meat.

The meat may have up to 224% more fat, between 7% and 21% more calories, 10% less collagen, and up to 9% less protein, studies have found.

Miriam Martínez, veterinarian and head of Animal Welfare at the OBA, stated, “Many people decide to eat chicken because it is supposed to be healthier, but they do not take these conditions into account.”

Martínez also points out that it is impossible for Lidl to determine the nutritional value of each batch of chicken because of the difference in quality. It is this impossibility that generates a greater lack of knowledge among consumers regarding the quality of the chicken meat they buy.

In light of the results, the OBA concludes that more than 20.4% of the breast comes from chickens with serious signs of this pathology.

Lidl for their part have claimed that “guaranteeing the quality of our products is a priority”, and that is why they carry out “exhaustive quality controls throughout the entire supply chain through independent and accredited bodies”.

The supermarket continued by claiming that “the presence of white streaks on poultry meat is a common element in chicken that is usually sold in Spanish supermarkets”, and that these marks do “not affect the nutritional value of the product and, much less, its quality and food safety”.

The OBA has since communicated the results of its report to the Ministry of Consumption and the Ministry of Agriculture to request an investigation and take the appropriate measures to guarantee the nutritional quality of poultry meat.

Animal rights organisations from other countries found these “white streaks” on Lidl chicken in previous investigations. According to Martínez, this motivated the OBA to launch its own study of the chain’s products at a Spanish level.

However, Lidl is one of the supermarkets with the largest presence in Spain, but on this list, it is one of the few that has not yet joined the European Chicken Commitment, a series of criteria agreed by almost 40 NGOs in Europe to improve the welfare of these birds.

It has been found that white streaks within chicken are linked to the disproportionate growth of the animal, whose objective is to achieve a higher yield of meat. The white striping develops due to the continuous breakdown and reconstruction of the muscle caused by its rapid growth.

Martínez continues is on a mission to warn people about the effects of such a process as intensive farming. She states, “Their growth is so fast and unnatural that it would be equivalent to a human baby reaching 300 kilos in its first two months of life.”

Moreover, Alberto Díez , spokesperson for the National Association for the Defense of Animals (ANDA), states that the fast-growing chickens are slaughtered after 48 days because, “If they are allowed to live longer, deformities appear. They are not real chickens.”

Furthermore, this study follows in the footsteps of another in June which found that 71% of the samples of Lidl chicken analysed across Europe had antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

In Spain, 17 of the 24 samples were contaminated. Of the total sample, 38% contained listeria, while 83% contained pathogens associated with diarrhoeal diseases such as Escherichia coli and Campylobacter.

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