{"id":749975,"date":"2026-08-26T05:12:19","date_gmt":"2026-08-26T05:12:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/749975\/"},"modified":"2026-08-26T05:12:19","modified_gmt":"2026-08-26T05:12:19","slug":"rspca-reveals-secret-weapon-to-tackling-common-cause-of-food-poisoning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/749975\/","title":{"rendered":"RSPCA reveals \u2018secret weapon\u2019 to tackling common cause of food poisoning"},"content":{"rendered":"

Your support helps us to tell the story<\/p>\n

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.<\/p>\n

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.<\/p>\n

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.<\/p>\n

Your support makes all the difference.Read more<\/p>\n

Higher-welfare chicken farming<\/a> could be a \u201csecret weapon\u201d in curbing the UK\u2019s most common cause of food poisoning<\/a>, the RSPCA says, after a study linked factory-farmed birds<\/a> to soaring rates of infection in people.<\/p>\n

University of Oxford researchers last month revealed that the way in which most chickens<\/a> are reared for meat<\/a> in the UK increased the disease<\/a> behind food poisoning<\/a> more than 100-fold.<\/p>\n

The scientists said industrial farming<\/a>, and in particular densely populated chicken flocks<\/a>, has allowed strains of a bacterium<\/a> called campylobacter to spread widely in birds reared for meat.<\/p>\n

Campylobacter is the most common bacterial cause of diarrhoea worldwide, causing more than 3.5 times as many gastroenteritis cases in the UK each year than all other monitored foodborne bacteria<\/a> combined.<\/p>\n

The RSPCA is calling on supermarkets, food companies and the government urgently to prioritise breeds that grow more slowly and to promote higher-welfare farming, to rein in the spread of the bacterium.<\/p>\n

The animal-welfare charity says urgently switch to slower-growing chicken breeds will not only \u201cdrastically improve\u201d animal welfare, but would also \u201coffer a vital line of defence for public health\u201d and reduce strain on the NHS caused by food poisoning cases.<\/p>\n

Campylobacter is largely harmless to healthy adult chickens, but is a major infection risk for humans, causing severe stomach cramps, diarrhoea, fever, headache, nausea and vomiting.<\/p>\n

The bacteria, which spreads via raw meat and raw and contaminated milk, can be killed by thoroughly cooking.<\/p>\n

Most of the one billion-plus chickens bred for meat<\/a> in the UK each year are \u201cfrankenchickens\u201d<\/a>, genetically engineered to put on weight so rapidly that their legs break under the strain and they suffer chronic pain, deformities and heart failure<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"BirdsBirds are bred to grow so rapidly that their legs cannot support them and their hearts fail (Anima)<\/p>\n

It\u2019s been calculated that if human babies grew as quickly<\/a>, they would weigh around 45 stone by two months old.<\/p>\n

Evidence suggests that slower-growing chickens develop stronger immune systems, reducing the chances of bacteria such as campylobacter taking hold.<\/p>\n

The researchers found the huge global expansion of chicken farming has created ideal conditions for the bacterium to spread, mix and adapt to survive.<\/p>\n

As well as the Oxford study<\/a>, research by the European Food Safety Authority has linked the practice of \u201cthinning\u201d \u2013 removing some chickens for early slaughter \u2013 to higher campylobacter rates because it causes distress and health risks for the remaining birds. <\/p>\n

Charlotte Arthur, poultry welfare expert at the RSPCA said: \u201cEvidence suggests more welfare-friendly poultry farming could be a secret weapon in efforts to reduce the spread of a bacteria that can be so dangerous to humans. <\/p>\n

\u201cSlower-growing chickens live longer, experience fewer welfare problems and may also be less susceptible to some of the biological processes that allow campylobacter to spread.\u201d<\/p>\n

The RSPCA says chicken with its Assured label takes at least eight days more to reach slaughter weight than standard supermarket birds.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe way in which most chickens are reared for meat increases food poisoning risk more than 100-fold, experts say (Anima)<\/p>\n

\u201cThese birds don\u2019t just experience better lives – evidence suggests they may be better equipped to cope with infections such as campylobacter,\u201d Ms Arthur said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s why slower-growing breeds of chicken must be part of a serious conversation about reducing risk, and building resilience that doesn\u2019t involve more antibiotics – keeping people healthier, safer, and reducing the strain on the nation\u2019s doctors\u2019 surgeries, pharmacies and the NHS.\u201d <\/p>\n

Laurie Wills, of The Humane League UK, branded food poisoning cases a \u201cfaeces scandal\u201d, saying chickens were forced to sit in their own waste.<\/p>\n

Rising rates of antimicrobial resistance, in which bacteria resist drugs designed to kill them, are making campylobacter infections increasingly hard to treat.<\/p>\n

Since the 1960s, global chicken numbers have increased seven-fold to approximately 31 billion birds. <\/p>\n

A spokesperson for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said: \u201cWe are considering the best ways to promote the use of slower-growing chicken breeds to help boost animal welfare.\u201d<\/p>\n

The British Retail consortium has been approached for comment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":749976,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[59,102,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-749975","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-gb","tag-health","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/749975","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=749975"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/749975\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/749976"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=749975"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=749975"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=749975"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}