(US) A comparison between controlled-atmosphere stunning (CAS) for poultry slaughter and U.S. poultry processors' conventional technique — low-voltage electrical stunning — found that CAS is not a more humane alternative, despite the claims of some animal welfare activists.
A report about the study in Feedstuffs describes the study as the first evaluation of CAS at the commercial level. The study was conducted by McDonald's Corp. and two of its poultry suppliers, Tyson Foods Inc. and Keystone Foods LLC.
The two-part test installed CAS equipment in a processing plant and monitored it for 16 days. The factors measured included animal welfare and handling, carcass yield and product quality, Todd Bacon, U.S. quality systems for McDonald's U.S. supply chain, said in the report.
Electrical stunning is by far the most commonly used technique, although CAS is more common in Europe than in the United States. Some animal handling organizations, including PETA and HSUS, oppose the use of electrical stunning. The American Humane Association does not endorse one over the other, Feedstuffs said. While CAS supporters say it essentially puts the chickens to sleep, other humane handling experts believe there is a period of suffocation involved.
"There is not enough evidence to say CAS is the No. 1 option," Bob Langert, McDonald's vice president for corporate social responsibility, is quoted as saying in a report in the Chicago Tribune. "Whether [chickens] suffer or not is an open question."
McDonald's conclusion was that it should continue to support its poultry suppliers' use of both CAS and electrical stunning techniques.
Source: meatingplace
ABSTRACT (to download the full report, click here)
McDonald’s animal welfare operating principle – whatever supplier practices are employed, they must be humane.
McDonald’s has a longstanding commitment to animal welfare and expects humane treatment of animals by our suppliers in every part of the world where we do business. That’s why we saw the need to work with our U.S. poultry suppliers Tyson Foods, Inc. and Keystone Foods, LLC to conduct a study on poultry stunning methods. As in most parts of the world, in the U.S., there are no large-scale chicken producers that currently use the Controlled Atmosphere Stunning (CAS) method, therefore more study is needed to better understand the pros and cons of these methods. Additionally, there is not a consensus among animal welfare experts that one practice is more humane than the other.
Study Overview
Together with two of our poultry suppliers, we embarked on a two-step testing of CAS. The alpha test focused on the methodology and equipment itself, understanding the right mixture and administration of gases to stun effectively, while monitoring the bird reactions during the process. The beta test incorporated the learnings from alpha test to further test the best CAS process at a commercial scale in production.
Dr. Ken Opengart, who oversees Keystone’s animal welfare practices, stated, “We regularly work with McDonald’s to audit animal welfare practices to continually identify, evaluate and implement improvements to make decisions based on available science and research. The research around CAS was incomplete, so we were interested in participating in this study to test this technology and better understand its potential to improve animal welfare.”
Over the years, Tyson has reviewed different poultry processing technology, including CAS. These evaluations have considered a number of factors, including animal welfare, scientific studies, U.S. and international production methods, food safety and product quality, employee safety, environmental factors, expected costs and other elements. “Testing these practices in a commercial environment was critical to understanding the issues,” said Dr. Kellye Pfalzgraf, who oversees the Tyson Foods’ Office of Animal Well-Being.
CAS Study Outcomes
As a result of the study, the following outcomes were determined:
- Comparative tests do not indicate that CAS offers significant advantages over the low voltage electrical system already in use by U.S. suppliers.
- Globally, McDonald’s continues to support our chicken suppliers’ use of both controlled atmosphere stunning (CAS) and electrical stunning. For example, the European poultry industry, including McDonald’s suppliers, still purchases about 70 percent of its chicken from suppliers using electrical stunning, and the remainder comes mostly from CAS.
“We believe that humane slaughter of food animals must be performed using the best available science and in a manner that causes minimal or no distress to the animals,” said Marie Wheatley, president of the American Humane Association. “We are not aware of any science-based conclusive evidence that the distress chickens experience in existing electric stunning methods is either greater, or less than that with gas anesthesia induction. Any claim that CAS is more humane is simply not founded on current science and should not be forced on the industry.”
Dr. Temple Grandin, animal welfare expert and member of McDonald’s U.S. Animal Welfare Council, said, “This report is a very well-balanced approach to evaluating the pros and cons of these practices. There is always a need for sound science around these important animal welfare considerations, and regardless of the method, good management practices, such as those that McDonald’s requires of its suppliers, are critical to humane treatment of animals.”
McDonald’s Conclusions Based on Study Outcomes
McDonald’s participation in this study aligns with our vision of a sustainable supply chain that takes into consideration ethical, environmental and economic impacts. We will continue to monitor evolving research and technology with our U.S. Animal Welfare Council, other independent experts, our own global supply chain experts and key poultry suppliers around the world to assess new and improved systems as they become available.
