r/NoStupidQuestions • u/ThrowRA_Anything7011 • 10h ago
Where does mcdonalds source their chicken from? (UK)
I recently watched a new documentary on fried chicken on netflix, which REALLY put me off kfc and other similar places.
They were naming a couple of large franchises, and also brought up the sustainable chicken forum, which the companies in it also happen to own. But mcdonalds was not brought up once which I found incredibly odd.
I assumed that mcdonalds chickens are from the same place. I would still be surprised if they arent. But what is the actual deal with their chickens? why werent they mentioned about being poorly looked after as well?
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u/JJC165463 10h ago
Almost all chicken farming in the UK and US is controlled by 2-3 suppliers. Basically all of your chicken, maccies or not, comes from these companies. Something like 90% of commercially available chicken is farmed in the way you saw on that documentary. Itâs fucked.
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u/ThrowRA_Anything7011 10h ago
Thats so fucked tbh. Are there any places that dont do that? even if you have to pay extra?
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u/MontyGooseyGander 10h ago
Go to your local butchers and ask them where they source their meat. Go online and look for farm to plate sources. They exist but do cost more. M&S and Waitrose are probably the best for supermarket meat standards.
Edit: not on here, IG,, Facebook etc
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u/Opening_Concern_829 10h ago
M&S/Waitrose stuff is supplied by the exact same people. Cranswick/Crown chicken supplies the raw chicken, 2sisters food group makes most of their non-raw ingredient products (Kievs, chicken breasts, cakes, anything that isnt a raw ingredient, ie a whole chicken or a bag of flour.)
They're probably made to a different standard but they're made by the same people. 2sisters sites are fucking disgusting.
Source: I'm a truck driver and I've been around a while.
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u/MontyGooseyGander 7h ago
Ah, good to know. I thought M&S had a better standard of supply routes - they can trace their meat to exacts cuts and source and work more closely with the fishing community, but I'll bear this info in mind
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u/Organic_Mechanic_702 4h ago
M&S do require higher welfare standards for the birds when they are being reared, but they are the same birds.
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u/Accurate-Temporary73 10h ago
Small locally owned farm to table restaurants yes.
The volume of food needed for ANY chain restaurant is just too much to source locally like that. Doesnât matter if itâs a huge one like McDonaldâs or a tiny with 10 locations.
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u/alyaaz 9h ago
The volume of food needed for chains and fast food means it can never come from a sustainable source. Smaller fast food places often get their meat through dodgy international suppliers that are even worse. For me, if I'm getting fast food i'll almost always go vegetarian, and eat meat from supermarkets or butchers that are free range
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u/zesmz 7h ago
I recommend you follow âProject Slingshotâ on insta, theyâre doing a massive campaign with famous comedians to bring light to this :). Absolutely shocking that itâs legal in the UK to farm chickens in such a vile way.
https://www.instagram.com/slingshot_uk?igsi=aTVrZWRwMzluazMw
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u/Evolations 8h ago
Just stop eating meat
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u/godsavedonalduck 6h ago
What and start lying in roads and taping yourself to planes as well you mean?
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u/Organic_Mechanic_702 3h ago
Your local butcher or local independent grower, otherwise you're likely buying the same thing...buyers demand cheap Chicken in large volume and as long as they do they will get the same thing.
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10h ago
[deleted]
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u/Kamila95 9h ago
It would be tho, I live in a large city. I googled and there are some free range chicken farms in surrounding villages but they only sell eggs (by collection) or live chickens/hatchlings not chicken meat.
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u/DeskEducational2 8h ago
so basically no matter where u buy it, the chicken's living the same sad life. that's bleak
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u/humblepaul 23m ago
I spent 2 weeks working (i lied about being a student) at 'Sun' Valley, in Hereford, A chicken processing centre. It was proper clinical production lines, with operators of very low IQ. Sun Valley is part of Cargill group that is a big McD supplier. While i can't say anything negative about the processing side of things. My brother briefly worked in the feeding sheds with live chickens. Somehow he felt sorry for one and brought it home! It was a franken-chicken, huge. That's the worrying bit.
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u/Organic_Mechanic_702 3h ago
To be fair M&S, Waitrose, do require higher welfare standards and they do have their own inspections of farms. Unfortunately, because of the pressures put on farms to produce the maximum number of birds at the lowest cost (feed/wages/bedding/energy/medication etc) every 6 weeks means that corners get cut sometimes. Not always a case of growers/workers being deliberately cruel or callous, but a case the system constantly pushing for more for less with minimal labour and birds that are bred to grow so quickly their health is compromised.
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u/mafu99 10h ago
Moy Park in Northern Ireland. They are also major supplier to Burger King. They produce for Tesco and Waitrose and M&S also. People think you're getting "better" chicken in M&S but its from the same place.
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u/Reasonable_Bath_269 6h ago
You are getting better chicken, itâs processed by moy park but the chicken itself hits higher standards. Itâs not just a case of chicken goes in -> put a different label on and charge more
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u/trillz420 5h ago
Just letting you know that is absolute waffle. The âchicken itself hits higher standardsâ is complete bs spewed by the supplier to make the consumer believe that they are getting âhigher qualityâ chicken, even though it comes from the exact same place, and goes through the exact same processing
Source: Moy Park produces chicken for Tesco, Ocado (M&S) and McDonaldâs
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u/Reasonable_Bath_269 4h ago
M&S have pledged to the âbetter chicken commitmentâ on the Oakham golds that include longer life, slightly better conditions etc, and the farms are traceable, yes the chickens go through moy park but that doesnât mean every chicken going through is the same. Chickens are raised on various farms then sent to moy park for processing, it doesnât mean every chicken that goes through processing is identical
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u/trillz420 2h ago
So youâre attempting to say the chickens from m&s were âraised in better conditionsâ before they join the same exact processing as the ones that werenât raised as well
I bet you think they clean all of the processing equipment before putting the m&s chickens through the same machines too
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u/happyhippohats 0m ago
That's a statement not a source, and it doesn't back up what you said either
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u/pajamakitten 9h ago
They are not going to mention everywhere by name. All the fast food chains use similar suppliers and they are all going to be chickens raised in factories. There is not enough farmland in the UK for all chickens to be given a storybook existence. If you buy chicken in the supermarket (or any ready meals, sandwich etc.) or restaurant then you can pretty much guarantee it spent its life going from hatchling to ready to slaughter in 30 days, in a shed with thousands of other chickens (where trampling, pecking and cannibalism happens) under fluorescent lighting to stimulate that growth cycle. For comparison, their growth rate is like expecting a newborn to grow up to a fifteen year old in the same time period. McDonald's uses frankenchickens, just like every other chain and supermarket does.
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u/Organic_Mechanic_702 3h ago
They also don't tell you about heat. In this summers heatwaves they will have lost 100,000's of bird nationally because of the heat.
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u/First-Archer-3457 10h ago
A chicken hatchery near me produces over a million chicks every week! Itâs farming on an unimaginable scale and welfare is not the primary concern.
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u/notatoastedbread We're all learning 10h ago
If McDonald's had ethical meat sourcing, they would 100% advertise that because it's much more expensiveÂ
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u/glasgowgeg 3h ago
They do advertise about their sourcing:
https://www.mcdonalds.com/gb/en-gb/our-plan-for-change/food/sourcing.html
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u/LordSideQuest 9h ago
I can't answer your question about McDonalds being excluded from mention in that documentary, but just a little digging has shown me some videos about the conditions at least some of their suppliers, keep their chickens in...
I'm gonna add a NSFW to the link here, its grim enough that I wont eat McDonalds chicken again now... or any of their meat for that matter.
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u/Kencocoffe_co 4h ago
kids should be brought from schools out to see where their food comes from.
why is it hidden?
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u/Organic_Mechanic_702 3h ago
To be fair to the farms, any farms, it's mostly down to Bio security...disease control..especially with things like bird flu. Only essential visitors are allowed.
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u/GoAroundGoose 8h ago
Unfortunately the majority of chicken meat is factory farmed and the welfare standards are very low.
There are comments on here about Moy Park where the chickens are bred, have around 35 million chickens in 800 sheds at any time.
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u/GravityIsPropaganda 6h ago
Same factory-farm system, same grim chicken, McDonalds isnt some clean exception tho. If the doc put you off KFC, it should probably put you off most fast food chicken in the UK.
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u/Forest-Dane 10h ago
Someone I used to know supplied meat to McDonald's. He said they used to pay top money but they sent inspectors without notice and everything had to be perfect.
He used to get pissed about having to keep a farm clean but wasn't going to give up the contract because they paid so well.
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u/TurtleRiver 8h ago
My cousin told me theyâre grown in large vats and that theyâre genetically modified to not have beaks, feathers, or feet. He also drops acid like I drop breath mints, so grain of salt I guess
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u/IncomeFew624 6h ago
I grew up in Herefordshire where chicken is big business. My dad worked for Avara who supply or have supplied chicken to McDonalds, KFC, Morrisons and M&S (amongst others). I grew up with huge bags of frozen McD's nuggets in the freezer that my dad could get in the staff shop. It's one of the biggest employers in Hereford so it's not long there before you meet someone that works, or has worked, at the 'Chicko'/
It was definitely a grim place to work if you were 'on the line', and I've heard some v nasty stories. They apply (or used to apply, he's retired now) different standards depending on who they are producing the meat for - M&S was obviously higher end than some of the others.
One of my primary school friends parent's ran a chicken farm that supplied Avara as well, we went into the sheds once and the small was indescribably bad, it was all I could do not to throw up. Never again.
Incidentally, the industrial run-off from chicken farming in Herefordshire has all but killed the River Wye, it's an ecological nightmare.
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u/Used_Improvement1613 5h ago
When I worked there ('til 2012), the premium (think selects and legends) came from Thailand. The cheap (nuggets, sandwiches, mayo chicken) came from Brazil. The boxes were stamped with the origin.
Eggs and beef were British/Irish. Not sure these days though.
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u/FunkyClive 4h ago
McDonald's not being mentioned probably has more to do with their legal team rather than their chicken supply.
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u/LeTrolleur 4h ago
I'd be willing to bet that you can Google the name of any large livestock farming company and be presented with a list of articles alleging or proving animal welfare violations.
Believe it or not, Red Tractor isn't even a guarantee the meat you're eating has been treated humanely. I was reading an article in The Guardian a while back that showed a Red Tractor approved farm was routinely failing to ensure the welfare of its animals.
I'd like to see a proper government regulator set up to replace organisations like Red Tractor, but my suspicion is that the reason we don't already have one is that these animal rights violations are a lot more common that the public would expect.
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u/Organic_Mechanic_702 4h ago
McDonalds, and pretty much all the other UK chicken shops, and supermarkets all use the same chickens - from different suppliers but the same birds. Broilers - which are raised in sheds on large farms (mostly) and are usually slaughtered at around 35 days old at which point they weigh around 3kg.
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u/Cokehopper 10h ago
No idea where they source it from, but it will be similar or identical conditions.
The hard reality to accept is that there is no such thing as ethical meat consumption in the world we have created. It is not naturally possible to have a planet filled with countless supermarkets that are filled with countless shelves of meat every hour of every day, but we have normalised it.
If you watch more media and documentaries showing the reality of meat production, you will only become more convinced of this. We only accept this industry by embracing our own ignorance and naivety.
Eating meat is a selfish and unnecessary choice for our own convenience and pleasure. It's also not possible to claim that one cares about animals at all whilst still having a meat diet. The two positions are entirely juxtaposed.
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u/ringsofsaturn27 10h ago
It's not just chickens mate- cows, pigs, it's all the same
just go vegan
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u/PotentialCourt8531 10h ago
Telling people to 'go vegan' will never work, people don't like being told what to do. Plus you can be veggie without having to check the back of every product to see if it contains a trace of egg white or powdered milk.
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u/ringsofsaturn27 10h ago
I won't stop abusing and killing sentient beings because I don't like being told what to do.
Great argument lol
Chicken and cows are still being killed for eggs and milk
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u/PotentialCourt8531 10h ago
I'm vegan you idiot... I'm telling you how not to go about it, because if I was instructed by people like you, with that horrible attitude, I'd still eat meat.
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u/ringsofsaturn27 10h ago edited 10h ago
It doesn't matter if you are vegan, I just rephrased the argument you made.
Well I was actually encouraged by reading these things over and over, so clearly it works for some people.
Also i just skimmed through some your comments and you are definitely not vegan lol
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u/pullingteeths 8h ago
The thing you're missing is that a TON of harm reduction can come from people taking smaller steps. If someone wants to start avoiding factory farmed chicken that's awesome. A lot of people even just doing that adds up and makes a difference. Maybe they'll just do that or maybe it will lead them to cut out more factory farmed meats, or reduce their overall meat consumption, or to go vegetarian eventually, or vegan. Maybe they will look more into animal welfare and start donating to animal charities. Maybe they will influence other people in their life to also do some of these things
All of these things count and should be encouraged, not discouraged by saying "if you're not going vegan don't bother doing anything because you're a hypocrite piece of shit". It's counter productive to respond to someone taking an interest in animal welfare and planning to take positive steps to reduce harm in that way
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u/ringsofsaturn27 8h ago
I mostly agree with everything you said, I don't actually have this black or white, all or nothing mentality and i especially know becoming vegan can't happen over night.
All I tried to achieve with my comment was for this person to look further into the subject and plant the seed of veganism into their head.
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u/pullingteeths 1h ago
Yeah that's fair. Your comment wasn't that harsh and it's fine to bring veganism into the conversation but I have seen a lot of vegans saying versions of if you're not going vegan don't bother and I just don't agree with that at all.
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u/PotentialCourt8531 9h ago
I am vegan, but that doesn't mean I think all sentient beings need saved either... Like the one I'm replying to now.
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u/ringsofsaturn27 9h ago
Stop lying mate, we both know that's not true.
Also why are you so hostile towards me? I never attacked you or anyone else in this thread
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u/PotentialCourt8531 8h ago
You mocked and insulted me, edited my words out of context, plus threw in an 'lol' at my comments. You are not a nice person.
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u/ringsofsaturn27 8h ago
I just repeated your own argument in different words and sarcastically complimented it, I really don't see how that's mocking and insulting.
I never said I'm a nice person, but i didn't say anything that warrants such a strong reaction from you
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u/PotentialCourt8531 8h ago
I called you an 'idiot', I think you'll manage without therapy... if it helps, I don't take myself seriously online and I don't really think before typing. I'm not trying to make you upset. If so, sorry.
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u/ThrowRA_Anything7011 10h ago
All you are doing is making people shut off and not want to listen to you tbh.
Like yeah, you are correct. But shows like clarksons farm have done way more to convince me to be vegan then someone saying aggressive words that make me want to tune out.
You have to point someone the way so they can make their own decisions, not scream in their ear about how disgusting they are.
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u/i-am-the-fly- 10h ago
Are you joking? Have you seen the conditions they put the veg through? Sometimes they are not given water, they are left in the dirt their whole lives. The saddest bit, if they donât look right they are thrown away. They died for nothing. /s
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u/pajamakitten 9h ago
The plants are anchored to the ground to stop them moving too. It is no better than how veal is treated!
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u/ringsofsaturn27 9h ago
Not even you yourself think that's even remotely comparable if you are being honest
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u/alyaaz 9h ago
I think they are joking
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u/i-am-the-fly- 6h ago
If there is any confusion, you are correct I am joking hence the statutory /s. Thanks for getting it!
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u/ringsofsaturn27 9h ago edited 9h ago
It's an actual argument loads of people are trying to make, disguised as a joke
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u/throaway_247 8h ago
Link to one other example? "Loads" cannot be correct.
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u/ringsofsaturn27 8h ago
Watch some videos of animal rights activist talking with people on the streets, some version of 'but plants feel pain too' is mentioned almost every time
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u/Actual-Bee-402 6h ago
Go vegetarian or vegan. People can only enjoy meat because of cognitive dissonance
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10h ago
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u/811545b2-4ff7-4041 9h ago
According to their linkedin post - https://www.linkedin.com/posts/cargill_from-chicken-breast-to-chicken-mcnuggets-activity-7475533378545618944-IX7e/
Cargill supply McDonalds UK with chicken
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u/Nayphixia 9h ago
McDonalds haa information about where the chicken comes from on their website - https://www.mcdonalds.com/gb/en-gb/good-to-know/about-farming/chicken.html
All the eggs are free range and I'm fairly sure that all the birds in the supply chain have to have access to sunlight and enrichment, don't know if it's actually true or not, though.
Legally, their suppliers will have to comply with the UK/EU welfare standards, but the breeds they use are fast growing, so the quality of life for the chickens will never be good.
There is also this on the British Hen Welfare Trust - https://www.bhwt.org.uk/companies/mcdonalds/
Most of it is about the eggs, so it's likely that they have higher standards for the laying hens and not the ones they use for meat.
The fast food industry will never put the welfare of the animals before profit.
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u/Organic_Mechanic_702 57m ago
Broiler houses have to have windows but they are not always opened. Enrichment - basically means something for the birds to peck at or scratch - usually bales of straw or hanging 'toys'. Once they get past about 25 days they don't move around much anyway.
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u/A_Literal_Fruit_5369 9h ago
I used to work in a Burger King and the highest % of chicken in the chicken items was one of the chicken burgers at like 54% (itâs been like 6 years so it might have improved or Iâm not remembering 100% accurately but it was around 50%). The lowest was the nuggets
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u/megasin1 8h ago
Where does mc Donald's get their chicken? Primarily themselves, sourced a cheap as possible. After that whoever will sell them the most for the lowest price within UK-food-standards. (Not usa because of chlorine for example)
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u/YouWhatMate90 8h ago
it comes through British farms via Avara foods, my mum works there. They also suply KFC, Nandos, Tesco, Lidl, Aldi, Costco etc
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u/TwiggyPom 7h ago
Years ago I worked at a place that supplied kebab meet. I was involved in the installation of a new freezer there. That place was disgusting... still eat kebabs mind.
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u/BathFullOfDucks 10h ago
Make a documentary like that with McDonald's in it and you are going to suffer decades of legal trouble
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u/Vexaofficiall 10h ago
I think itâs mostly sourced from approved suppliers in the UK, but Iâm curious how much of that varies by location
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u/Organic_Mechanic_702 3h ago
Very little. Broiler chickens are pretty much the same where ever in the UK. It's a very set system - day to 3kg in 36 days.
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u/TemporaryIllusions 8h ago
Home fried chicken is not hard to make. Alton Brownâs âThe Generalâs Fried Chickenâ is the best recipe Iâve done. I keep the seasoning made in bulk in a large sugar dispenser (tip to pour type) so I can make and fry just a few thighs when I want them.
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u/Chill_Panda 10h ago
Brother fast food and farm animal welfare do not go well together. If this documentary put you off of KFC chicken, then you should be put off of all fast food meat