Brazilian union sues JBS over alleged exploitation of chicken workers

Reuters – A Brazilian labour union has accused JBS SA of subjecting dozens of workers to “degrading conditions,” according to a class action suit filed against the world’s biggest meatpacker and its suppliers last week. The union filed the claim on behalf of at least 76 people, including members of the Terena Indigenous community, who

Laying hens in cage-free aviary housing at the Manitoba Egg Farmers Learning and Resource Centre at Glenlea.

Survey says Canadians want cage-free eggs but purchase choices don’t agree

The Canadian egg-farming sector is about halfway into a transition to enriched cage housing

Do Canadians want cage-free eggs? Survey says yes. But the data says they’re not voting with their wallets. In a survey of more than 1,000 Canadians, 72 per cent of respondents said Canada’s code of practice should ban caged confinement of laying hens. The survey, released this summer, comes from Bryant Research, a U.K. firm


Tyson Foods rolls back ‘no antibiotics ever’ label

Tyson Foods rolls back ‘no antibiotics ever’ label

Reuters – Tyson Foods is reintroducing certain antibiotics to its chicken supply chain and will drop its “no antibiotics ever” tagline from company-branded chicken products, a spokesperson said July 3. The change will involve drugs that the company said are not important to human health. The antibiotics that Tyson plans to add to some of

Turkeys. (Scott Bauer photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

Canada books first month in 19 without bird flu outbreak

Eight commercial poultry farms remain active sites

June 2023 appears set to be Canada’s first month without a new highly pathogenic avian influenza outbreak in poultry or other domesticated birds since the disease returned to this country in late 2021. Canada has booked 322 outbreaks in domestic birds in the past 19 months, of which 31 were detected so far in 2023.


File photo of chicks on a genetic map of a chicken. (Peggy Greb photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

Scientists isolate human gene able to fend off most bird flu viruses

Finding may show which bird flu strains have human pandemic potential

London | Reuters — U.K. researchers have homed in on a human gene implicated in thwarting most bird flu viruses from infecting people. Bird flu chiefly spreads among wild birds such as ducks and gulls and can also infect farmed birds and domestic poultry such as chickens, turkeys and quails. Although the viruses largely affect

(RyanJLane/E+/Getty Images)

Canada warns VCOOL would sabotage shared Canada-U.S. goals, supply chains

The Canadian government has submitted its views on proposed U.S. food labelling rules

Proposed U.S. country of origin labelling rules run contrary to mutual Canada and U.S. goals to reduce inflation, improve food security and build resilient supply chains, according to a submission from the Canadian government to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. “One of the great strengths of the U.S.-Canada bilateral relationship is the successful integration of


(Dave Bedard photo)

Cargill to sell China poultry unit

Reuters – U.S. agribusiness giant Cargill said it is selling its poultry business in China to private equity firm DCP Capital, exiting a Chinese meat market that has become increasingly challenging for foreign players. The sale of the unit, known as Cargill Protein China, is subject to regulatory approvals but is expected to close this

File photo of a chicken processing line in Ukraine. (AlexanderLipko/iStock/Getty Images)

Canada extends Ukraine tariff-free access

Access to supply-managed sectors tightened

Winnipeg | Reuters — Canada on Friday extended Ukraine’s tariff-free access for most goods, but tightened access for eggs, poultry and dairy — sectors protected under the Canadian supply-management system. Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland said tariff relief for Ukrainian goods such as steel — a temporary measure started a year ago — would continue for



File photo of chicks on a genetic map of a chicken. (Peggy Greb photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

Animal health body backs bird flu vaccination to avoid pandemic

Vaccination should focus on free-range birds, WOAH chief says

Paris | Reuters — Governments should consider vaccinating poultry against bird flu, which has killed hundreds of millions of birds and infected mammals worldwide, to prevent the virus from turning into a new pandemic, the head of the World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH) said. The severity of the current outbreak of avian influenza, commonly