Reading Time: 3 minutes The owner of the Tim Hortons and Burger King fast food chains plans to have the broiler chicken producers supplying its Canadian and U.S. outlets meet a tighter set of welfare standards within the next seven years. Restaurant Brands International (RBI) announced on its website it will be “pursuing alignment” with Global Animal Partnership (GAP) […] Read more
Tim’s, Burger King to tighten broiler welfare standards
Canada blocks poultry, eggs from Tennessee, Alabama
Reading Time: 2 minutes Cross-border travellers coming into Canada from the U.S. are being warned not to bring in raw poultry or eggs from Tennessee or Alabama following outbreaks of avian flu in those states. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency on Thursday announced restrictions on imports of uncooked poultry products, live birds and/or eggs from those two states until […] Read more
A+W tightens standards for broiler suppliers’ barns
Reading Time: 2 minutes Canadian burger and root beer chain A+W has set up additional standards for broiler barns supplying chicken meat to its restaurants. On top of its existing requirements for raising birds on grain-based diets without the use of antibiotics, the company on Friday announced it would require a new maximum stocking density for birds in its […] Read more
Low-path bird flu turns up in Wisconsin turkeys
Reading Time: 2 minutes Paris | Reuters — The U.S. has reported an outbreak of avian flu on a farm in Wisconsin, the second in the country in less than a week although the virus found this time is considered less virulent, the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) said on Tuesday. A strain of low-pathogenic H5N2 avian flu […] Read more
Bird flu found in Tennessee chicken flock
Reading Time: 3 minutes Reuters — A strain of bird flu has been detected in a chicken breeder flock on a Tennessee farm contracted to U.S. food giant Tyson Foods, and the 73,500 birds will be culled to stop the virus from entering the food system, government and company officials said on Sunday. The U.S. Department of Agriculture said […] Read more
WHO says bird flu outbreaks raise alarm
Reading Time: 2 minutes London | Reuters — The risk of sustained human-to-human transmission of H7N9 avian flu in China is low, the World Health Organization said on Wednesday, but a surge in human cases there is worrying and requires constant monitoring. Outbreaks of H5 bird flu strains in poultry and wild birds across Europe, Africa and Asia are […] Read more
Cash-rich Maple Leaf sees abundant U.S. opportunities
Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters — Canadian meat packing company Maple Leaf Foods is hunting for acquisitions in the U.S., after years spent upgrading old factories and shedding business lines, its CEO said on Wednesday. Maple Leaf, which reported on Wednesday its profits doubled in the fourth quarter, sees growth opportunities from meat produced humanely and without antibiotics, and […] Read more
China reports more severe form of bird flu, threat to poultry
Reading Time: 2 minutes Geneva/Beijing | Reuters — China is working to assess the prevalence of a new strain of H7N9 bird flu, state radio reported Wednesday, after global health authorities said the strain had evolved into a more severe form in birds. So far the variant strain has only been detected in Guangdong province, but given the wide […] Read more
Maple Leaf Foods allows McCain to boost stake
Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters — Canadian meat processor Maple Leaf Foods reported a smaller-than-expected profit on Wednesday and also said it would allow its biggest shareholder to take a bigger stake in the company. The company said CEO Michael McCain and an affiliated company, McCain Capital Inc., could now bump up their stake to as much as 45 […] Read more
Tyson accelerates shift away from antibiotics in chicken
Reading Time: < 1 minute Chicago | Reuters — Tyson Foods in June will switch its retail line of company-branded chicken products to birds raised without any antibiotics, a top executive said on Tuesday, accelerating the meat sector’s shift away from the drugs. The change will make Tyson, which is the largest U.S. chicken processor, into the world’s leading producer […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
