Poultrykeepers Upset By Quality Of “Chicken”

Press, Volume XCVIII, Issue 28823, 18 February 1959, Page 7

Poultrykeepers Upset By Quality Of “Chicken”

“After seeing the practices of poultry retailers during Christmas and the New Year period, it would seem that the table poultry industry in New Zealand, is in jeopardy unless immediate steps are taken to protect the public.” says an article in the “New Zealand Poultry World,” the poultrykeepers’ journal.

“The effrontery of some retailers in regard to ‘chicken’ was positively astounding,” the article says. “Hens showing great masses of fat protruding; from the vent end were labelled ‘chicken’ and the old coper’s dodge of breaking the end of the keel was resorted to in some instances to deceive those housewives who have the knowledge of feeling for the flexible end which denotes ‘chicken’. “To cap it all, one concern that puts up hard-frozen poultry in plastic bags had fat fowl glaringly labelled chicken’, and no attempt was made to disguise the source of origin.

The article says that if the poultry industry hopes to increase sales, some means must be found to see that standards are observed, or that poultry is correctly labelled. When a’ customer compared the price of so-called “chicken” with that put up by genuine concerns there was naturally .a considerable difference, it continues. It was no use arguing that consumers should be guided by a reliable “brand” name as there was intense competition for

poultry sales during the festive season, and all retailers claimed that their poultry was the best. The worst “offenders” were butchers and fishmongers, the article says. “It appears that the name ‘chicken’ has had a bad knock and will continue to be used tor anything in the shape of a carcass, therefore the American name of ‘broiler* may have to be used to differentiate a young bird from a heh,” says the journal. Although ‘broiler’ was looked on for a time as a bad sales name for young chicken in the United Kingdom, it had now become accepted and the housewife no longer confused it with “boiler.”