Whole Foods' Animal Welfare Certifier to Cut 90% of U.S. Chicken From Approved Supplies
Standards cut out chickens comprising 90% of U.S. production
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The biggest chicken producers in the U.S. will have to overhaul their breeding programs in a matter of just a few years to meet tough new guidelines major customers are embracing, part of a movement to ensure birds are healthier and more humanely treated.
The Global Animal Partnership, an animal welfare certifier whose five-step method is championed by Amazon.com Inc.’s Whole Foods, is set to lower the number of breeds that meets its standards. According to people familiar with the process, it’s virtually impossible for any conventional chicken breeds, which make up more than 90% of U.S. production, to make the cut due to their performance in a study that informed the results.