Lidl Hit With Advertising Complaint Amid Investigation Into ‘High Welfare’ Chicken

The Humane League UK has filed a complaint against Lidl with the Advertising Standards Authority due to concerns over the supermarket's marketing of its chicken products. This move comes after an undercover investigation by Open Cages revealed disturbing footage of sick and debilitated chickens being mistreated at one of Lidl's suppliers, leading to the termination of their partnership.

Lidl has been accused of misleading consumers by claiming its chickens are "reared with care" while footage from the investigation shows a grim reality of factory-farmed birds suffering from deformities and illnesses due to fast growth practices. The Humane League believes that Lidl's use of images of free-range egg-laying birds in barns creates a false impression of high welfare standards for its meat chickens, further reinforcing the need for supermarkets to adopt higher welfare commitments.