Yellow light for regular Swedish chicken

Facts: WWF’s meat guide

Green means: Eat sometimes. Choose products with a green light if you eat meat, cheese or eggs.

Yellow means: Be careful. Challenges exist for the environment and/or animal welfare – be careful with goods in this category.

Red means: Warning. There is a risk of very high impact on the planet – avoid or place higher demands on goods in this category.

Source: World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF)

After a tightening of the criteria in the WWF’s meat guide in the fall of 2021, conventional Swedish chicken ended up on a red light, while the quality-marked chicken got a green light.

According to a new analysis that shows the climate impact of chicken production, ordinary Swedish chicken ends up on a yellow light again in an overall assessment. On the other hand, the red label remains in terms of animal welfare for all Swedish chicken except the requirement-marked.

The fast-growing chicken breeds used today have a higher risk of suffering from painful leg problems. Therefore, the animal welfare criterion requires that producers use breeds that grow more slowly, according to WWF.

“There is an increased interest among food chains and restaurants to buy chicken that is not bred to grow as quickly as possible, so we hope that the market will drive a change here,” explains Anna Richert, senior food expert at WWF, in a press release.

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