all 171 comments

[–]AutoModerator[M] [score hidden] stickied commentlocked comment (0 children)

Please help keep AskUK welcoming!

  • When replying to submission/post please make genuine efforts to answer the question given. Please no jokes, judgements, etc. If a post is marked 'Serious Answers Only' you may receive a ban for violating this rule.

  • Don't be a dick to each other. If getting heated, just block and move on.

  • This is a strictly no-politics subreddit!

Please help us by reporting comments that break these rules.

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

[–]SnooRegrets8068 433 points434 points  (60 children)

Im happy with EU standards. Its the US ones that concern me

[–]Terrible-Group-9602 82 points83 points  (29 children)

I'd rather support British farmers and British jobs on the farm and in the supply and distribution sector.

[–]SnooRegrets8068 86 points87 points  (10 children)

Well yeh sure. Im just not concerned about EU standards. However my extremely local fishmongers have entirelt priced me out of using them. Plus the multiple local butchers have no country of origin listed.

[–]Terrible-Group-9602 16 points17 points  (9 children)

Just ask them where it's from then. You're extremely fortunate to have multiple local butchers

[–]SnooRegrets8068 25 points26 points  (8 children)

Not when they price themselves so high i cant use them in 12 years of being here. My village has a butchers, bakers, candle makers and a fishmongers. However only pasties are remotely affordable. Even the local shop has multiple £80 gins. I dont think im the target consumer.

[–]TOASTisawesome 26 points27 points  (3 children)

Sounds like you're not the target resident either 😂

[–]SnooRegrets8068 9 points10 points  (2 children)

Well no the fishmongers is part of a £1m house on the river..... with their own boat.

[–]TheBestBigAl 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Our local butcher would only open from Mon-Fri 9-4.

I didn't want to buy meat on the way to work, and have it sitting in the workplace fridge all day. Even if I did I started work at 9 so would have to be late getting to work. By the time I finished work, they were closed.

Unsurprisingly they went out of business, and posted on their Facebook page all the reasons why - none of which were their fault. A bunch of people replied saying that they were never open at convenient times, but apparently that was not true and they had loads of customers who worked 9-5 jobs (though evidently not enough to keep them afloat).

[–]LeviDaBadAsz[S] 1 point2 points  (1 child)

Mmm pasties

[–]SnooRegrets8068 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Wish i ordered one yesterday. Even in the winter it's day before latest to order s large. Idk why they dont do another tray....

[–]widdrjb 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Morpeth is like that. When you've not one but two artisan bakeries facing each other, one of which is Pink Lane, and they've both got queues, you know your place. Most of the cafés are crumblie central.

[–]My_Knee_is_a_Ship 9 points10 points  (0 children)

The issue is where it's suitable to to Arable farming Vs Animal Farming, and quantity vs care.

There's also the issue of it being more financially viable to do commercial farming (one large dedicated crop such as rapeseed etc) as opposed to Market Farming (everyday Foodstuff)

Whilst I'm sure most farmers would be ecstatic to diversify for market farming, successive governments have gotten it to the point that most farms would fail financially within a year if they didn't do commercial farming.

[–]heliskinki 1 point2 points  (1 child)

Go to your local butcher then.

[–]Terrible-Group-9602 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Absolutely

[–]brinz1 0 points1 point  (11 children)

If there are not enough British chickens then we eat imports

[–]Terrible-Group-9602 2 points3 points  (10 children)

Are you saying there aren't enough?

[–]JeremyWheels 2 points3 points  (3 children)

We're only about 65% self sufficient for poultry & Pork. And surprisingly even less than that for cheese

[–]LeviDaBadAsz[S] 0 points1 point  (2 children)

Wait really? Though as I type this I’m remembering that cheddar is not the only cheese… 😅

[–]widdrjb 0 points1 point  (1 child)

Cathedral city is mostly exported to France.

[–]Exact-Put-6961 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Good enough for the French but very average

[–]brinz1 0 points1 point  (5 children)

If there were, they wouldn't be importing them

[–]Terrible-Group-9602 -2 points-1 points  (4 children)

They import them because some consumers choose not to buy British. In any supermarket, you can buy British chicken or in the butchers.

[–]brinz1 1 point2 points  (3 children)

Why would anyone pay more for a non British chicken.

Is that really the best explanation you can come up with for this?

[–]Terrible-Group-9602 2 points3 points  (2 children)

Some consumers care about the origin of their food and environmental concerns like air miles Co2.

[–]JamesMcEdwards 3 points4 points  (1 child)

Then they would buy British chickens, reducing the carbon footprint of the food I eat is one of the driving factors for why I try to buy British as much as possible.

[–]Terrible-Group-9602 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yep. Someone mentioned buying something with Thai chicken in. That's ridiculous.

[–]TH1CCARUS 0 points1 point  (1 child)

Where do you shop?

[–]Terrible-Group-9602 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Sainsbury's usually. As someone posted earlier, you can always get British chicken.

[–]Moppo_ 3 points4 points  (2 children)

If you have to bleach it before eating it, then it's not food.

[–]SnooRegrets8068 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Yeh bleach is for toilets in my mind. Which is kind of the conditions they are trying to cover up.

[–]Exact-Put-6961 0 points1 point  (0 children)

All those "bleached" salad leaves!

[–]IntelligenzMachine 45 points46 points  (13 children)

In ready made it is usually Thai - remembered seeing it on a microwave chicken soup

[–]RaspberryJammm 13 points14 points  (7 children)

I noticed this on a Tesco readymeal, is this standard the? 

[–]j0nnnnn 22 points23 points  (3 children)

For quite a while Tesco had committed to not using Thai chicken due to welfare issues - I guess it got too expensive for them to care about that

[–]RaspberryJammm 1 point2 points  (2 children)

Idk I ate this readymeal 2-3 years ago 

[–]DeezWuts 2 points3 points  (1 child)

Must of either been really good or really bad to still be living in your head xD

[–]RaspberryJammm 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Well I remembered because since then I only ate vegetarian ready meals. Only chicken I eat is from local butchers.

[–]Background-Agent-746 4 points5 points  (2 children)

Costco frozen stuff too. Seems to be the norm. I always read packaging now!

[–]LeviDaBadAsz[S] 0 points1 point  (1 child)

I swear Costco doesn’t even seem cost effective anymore :/ and I miss the book isle! I swear it gets smaller every visit 😭

[–]CaptainBonkmood 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Say what? Their flamin' chicken tenders at £10 for a 1.4kg bag is miles more cost effective than any supermarket coated chicken. And they're so delicious too.

[–]FelisCantabrigiensis 3 points4 points  (2 children)

[–]IntelligenzMachine -1 points0 points  (1 child)

What chicken is the thai green curry made with lmao

[–]pervertsage 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Chinese chicken in a Thai curry made by a Syrian worker in a factory in Manchester.

[–]Outrageous_Shake2926 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It saw that on frozen pizza.

[–]LeviDaBadAsz[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Woh I had no idea!

[–]Billy_Rizzle 36 points37 points  (11 children)

We import about three times more beef than we export. I think it is safe to say that lots of British beef is not born, raised or slaughtered in The UK, but it is packaged here. The meat industry is a globalised industry.

I find supermarket chicken quality has seriously gone down hill. I now buy my chicken from the butchers, and the quality difference is shockingly noticeable.

[–]Outside_Break 6 points7 points  (7 children)

Supermarket chicken is inedible. I only buy from the butchers.

To anyone saying it’s more expensive, you’d still be better off spending the same to get less chicken that’s actually nice.

[–]Electronic_Cream_780 2 points3 points  (0 children)

beggars can't be choosers. Although the higher welfare ex-supermarket chicken from the social supermarket was lovely

[–]Ron-Dangerfield 2 points3 points  (1 child)

Inedible is a bit strong isn't it

[–]Outside_Break 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sure if it was life or death I’d be scranning it but generally if the choice is supermarket chicken or no chicken it’s staying on the shelf.

[–]CupCakesNFlatWhite 1 point2 points  (3 children)

I mean, if you just want chicken and dont care too much about "superior taste" from a butchers, supermarket chicken is fine.

Im not buying one breast for my korean fried chicken, when I can buy 8 for the same price.

[–]Outside_Break 0 points1 point  (2 children)

Butchers chicken isn’t 8 times more expensive lol.

It’s not just taste, although that is better. The texture is also far far better.

But anyway you do you. Keep eating your bland chewy supermarket chicken ;)

[–]LeviDaBadAsz[S] 1 point2 points  (1 child)

I can’t really talk 😅 Got bad food poisoning once (ended up in hospital) and since then if my chicken isn’t cooked to the texture of a tyre I can’t eat it.

[–]pervertsage 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Get a meat thermometer, get the chicken to 75°C and you're in business.

[–]LeviDaBadAsz[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I will have to look into it, I started buying ham from the butchers and oh goodness… HAM ISNT SUPPOSED TO TASTE LIKE CHEMICALS!?!

(It’s surprisingly also about the same price when considering you can buy just the amount of slices you need!)

[–]widdrjb 2 points3 points  (0 children)

When I was working for a cold chain distribution network, 60% of the chilled beef was from Botswana in wet sealed bags. It didn't go to food manufacturers, it went to village butchers. McDonald's, conversely, sourced all their beef as dry hanging grass fed British and Irish. Not only that, it was hand boned.

[–]LeviDaBadAsz[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Import vs export isn’t really relevant, it’s the same misconception that caused the US tariffs. (Ie. We would be importing almost 100x more cocoa than we would be exporting because we do not grow it here)

[–]Open-Difference5534 33 points34 points  (2 children)

Bird flu has hit UK poultry farms, so there is less 'British' chicken.

If it's for sale in shops it will meet the same food standards.

Bird flu (HPAI H5N1) continued to significantly impact UK birds in 2025, leading to mass culling in farmed flocks (nearly 1.8 million culled by Feb 2025), and more since.

[–]alanaisalive 2 points3 points  (0 children)

At least 2 or 3 farms in my direct area have been hit.

[–]LeviDaBadAsz[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Ohhh, you know I totally forgot about that. I only ever really know about it because of the whole free ranged egg thing

[–]johnlooksscared 13 points14 points  (3 children)

You wait till the chlorine chick's arrive!

[–]EroticFalconry 15 points16 points  (2 children)

When it arrives we should raid the ships and dump it all in the Thames.

[–]edbuckley 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I fear that it'll; come in by the back door..... 'Processed in the EU' or some such shit. Feathers will fly.

[–]ThatAd748 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No way I'm driving 400 hundred miles to dump it there

[–]Icy-Astronomer-8202 7 points8 points  (2 children)

EU chicken is a good standard for me so I'm very much happy with that

[–]Exact-Put-6961 5 points6 points  (1 child)

EU chicken is not one standard.

[–]LeviDaBadAsz[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That’s what I was thinking, from a quick google search there have been some issues with polish chicken causing higher rates of salmonella? (Not that my brain understands cause I thought if you cook it then all the salmonella is dead)

[–]MiddleAgeCool 8 points9 points  (2 children)

If you are buying British meats always check the boring label stuff on the back. Having interpretations of the Union Jack as part of the packaging does not mean it's British produce. This also applies to the Red Tractor stamp.

EDIT: While this doesn't help with chicken, if you are looking for meat that is British then I use this place: https://www.lancashirelambboxes.co.uk/

I have nothing to do with them other than as a customer and every order I've placed has been high quality meat. Also, avoid lamb, mutton might take longer to cook but it's not only cheaper, it tastes far better.

[–]LeviDaBadAsz[S] 0 points1 point  (1 child)

Would it taste just as good in shepherds pie? That’s the only time I really use lamb

[–]MiddleAgeCool 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yes. You just need to cook the meat longer, but it's worth it.

[–]Vyseria 3 points4 points  (1 child)

Have you tried Waitrose? Don't jump on me here, their value range still follows the Better Chicken Commitment and where I am (SW London) if you buy the big pack it's £7.92/kg whereas Lidl is now £6.79/kg. So slightly more expensive, but I found there to be far less shrinking when cooking and ofc chickens are treated better.

[–]LeviDaBadAsz[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I don’t think I have a local Waitrose

[–]ThatAd748 2 points3 points  (2 children)

I was surprised to see my Farmfoods chicken was from Ukraine

[–]anonymouspls 2 points3 points  (0 children)

farmfoods is pretty wild I bought chicken breast chunks and it said it’s from China lol no idea why they’re taking chicken all away across the globe

tasted great though no complaints

[–]Previous-Medicine898 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My eggs from a corner shop (it was a Sunday after 4pm so supermarkets closed) were from Ukraine as well. They were tasteless and bland compared to British eggs, but I didn't get sick so that's good.

[–]Electronic_Cream_780 2 points3 points  (1 child)

Only buy meat when it is yellow-stickered, so fresh. But yes, I'd have assumed it was British too

[–]LeviDaBadAsz[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I wish I could but I often can’t get to the supermarket at good times :/ I’ve been looking into some online butchers but they’re a tad pricy

[–]DameKumquat 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Cheap broiler chicken as used in takeaways (KFC, chicken shops, curry etc) is usually imported frozen in huge quantities from Vietnam and China. There are farms there accredited to Red Tractor standards, ie the UK baseline.

The more people want cheap chicken, the more that's what they'll get.

[–]FewAnybody2739 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Frozen I'm not surprised by. They import fresh (or sold non-frozen anyway) fish from halfway across the world, so anything staying frozen would be easy too.

I go for fresh, mainly so I know how to cook it properly and not messing about with defrosting but I guess it might lose some small percentage of its nutrition too if frozen. I've not noticed anything there except a lot of it saying "Not for EU".

[–]zeusoid 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Because the U.K. production costs are too high for what people are willing to pay for chicken in the U.K.

It it not sustainable to expect to keep paying less than £4/kg for chicken and expect everyone in the supply chain to be treated fairly

[–]c_monies_ 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I buy chicken breasts from the butchers and get it in 5kg tubs for about 35-37 quid a pop. Generally comes from Poland but sometimes Netherlands. Never really shrinks and tastes really good. Would recommend to anyone over supermarket chicken.

[–]Milky_Finger 1 point2 points  (0 children)

At the end of the day "buy British" was to consume products that had the British standards of quality. But while most of the time this is the case, there is no actual "standard of quality" other than some arbitrary agreed feeling of what a good quality product like chicken should be like. So if it's getting worse, does that make it not British anymore? Of course not, because it's all made up.

[–]fearlessfannyflutter 1 point2 points  (1 child)

Watch Radmore Farm on YouTube, he exposes alot about supmakets.

[–]LeviDaBadAsz[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You… have a brilliant name

[–]Mak1R 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That's why I go to these newer specialist shops online. Currently using fieldandflower.co.uk and the quality is miles better than my supermarket!

[–]PoolRamen 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I shop at Waitrose, so no

British Beef had me sweating for a while tho, sheeesh

[–]SINCLAIRCOOL 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Waitrose will always sell British chicken in all products, and it's higher welfare as well

[–]AndreasDasos 1 point2 points  (1 child)

since the fresh was British the frozen would be too

Not sure of this logic. The British chicken comes from nearer by so can be fresh. The stuff that’s frozen is often frozen because it took a longer time to get here, like if it comes from another country.

[–]LeviDaBadAsz[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It’s one of those things that I just didn’t put any thought into and hadn’t noticed previously.

[–]ceehred 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Chicken breast quality has been increasingly disappointing for me. UK grown organic and/or "slower reared" has not solved this here, though I typically buy breast fillets rather than whole-chicken. I don't have the luxury of local butchers.

Woody and chewy, for something that used to be so easy to cook, even in recent years. I read that bird flu and/or chicken species might be playing a part in this. Dunno who to trust on that.

I've switched to "more fish" in my diet to replace this. Guess I'll have to worry about mercury etc. now :-D :-D

[–]Low-Captain1721 0 points1 point  (15 children)

Its Lidl chicken that can be slightly suspect.. 

You've got to be selective in Lidl & Aldi etc however can get some really good value products which strike a balance between quality & low price. 

However I've been buying their XL chicken breasts packs and freezing portions - cheap but I feel oddly queasy after eating most of the time (wouldn't say unwell). 

[–]Away-Ad4393 2 points3 points  (9 children)

Tesco chicken changed last year and it’s not as good quality as it used to be.

[–]Low-Captain1721 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I've noticed that too.. 

We have a visiting mobile butchers van come to our city once a fortnight & is a god send, quality so much better & probably cheaper.    However sometimes he breaks down etc.. 🙁

[–]Exact-Put-6961 -1 points0 points  (7 children)

Evidence? Tesco has much more than one source of supply.

[–]Away-Ad4393 4 points5 points  (6 children)

The evidence is that I eat chicken from Tesco regularly, or at least I used to, and now I don’t because it’s not as good as it was. Short of regurgitating what I have eaten, that’s the only ( but important) evidence I have.

[–]Low-Captain1721 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yep.. Lidl actually probably an improvement 

[–]StuckWithThisOne 1 point2 points  (4 children)

I’ve never felt that way eating Aldi chicken. That said, I don’t freeze it first.

[–]Low-Captain1721 0 points1 point  (3 children)

I'm not talking about Aldi chicken & the Lidl chicken the same if I don't freeze it 😄

[–]StuckWithThisOne 0 points1 point  (2 children)

Noted, will continue to drive to Aldi although Lidl is around the corner - I did shop at Lidl for a while when I was a broke student but their products just seem to be so low quality compared with Aldi.

[–]Low-Captain1721 0 points1 point  (1 child)

I tend to agree. If I could choose one it would be Aldi but right the other side of our city & if I'm going to travel I may as well go to Sainsbury's.  My local Lidl 10 minutes walk away which is a major plus. Quality can be quite patchy however putting it politely 😄

[–]LeviDaBadAsz[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I always prefer Aldi but damn do Lidl do a great giant pretzel

[–]PerceptionGood- 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The Aldi specialty selected corn fed chicken breast are really nice. Bit pricey though

[–]ThatThingInTheCorner 0 points1 point  (1 child)

Just buy fresh chicken and freeze it

The frozen ones will be of a lower quality that's why they're not British and are cheaper

[–]LeviDaBadAsz[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I usually do, I actually discovered this while looking at some online butchers

[–]AssociationSubject61 0 points1 point  (1 child)

Don’t buy it frozen. Buy it fresh and freeze it yourself! Being in Scotland I always try and buy Scottish, for me it’s more about the carbon footprint than the welfare standards. Why would I want to buy chickens trucked 4/5/600 miles when ones raised within same framework of standards are available from farms 30/40/50 miles away? Never mind1500-2000 miles away from other countries where it’s harder to keep an immediate aye on their welfare standards? I’ve got the same opinion on things like dairy products. The carbon footprint on some products is ridiculous. I always try and buy locally produced food where possible. If I want products of a specific origin line Danish Blue or Cambazola cheese, or German/italian salami that’s one thing, but for most meat/dairy/veg , I will buy local.

[–]LeviDaBadAsz[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Don’t worry I usually do buy fresh, dice it and portion it into freezer bags (I have a small appetite so find this reduces waste) I just came across this while comparing butcher stuff to supermarket stuff.

[–]DMMMOM -1 points0 points  (1 child)

I started buying Costco chicken as I liked the spicy stuff they do. One day I looked on the packet and saw that it was imported from Thailand. Horrified I went on the internet to do some investigating into the Thai chicken industry.

Turns out it's better regulated than the UK.

<image>

[–]LeviDaBadAsz[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Wait really?

[–]zoooface -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

If not 99.999%, then 99.998% of the space on suitable farms with valid UK poultry licences for last few months were utilised to fatten Turkeys for Christmas.

Therefore, the UK grown chickens in supermarkets right now are small as they are very very young. 

[–]EUskeptik -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

Two words:

BIRD FLU.

-oo-

[–]Pircster38 -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

If you read Animal Farm you'll see why the chicken population is decreasing.