Good Turkey Award Criteria

Background

• Turkeys are protected under the general EU animal welfare legislation and are included in the Council Regulation (EC) No 1234/2007 as regards the marketing standards for poultrymeat but are not covered under any detailed species-specific legislation.
• Main welfare concerns are stocking density, high growth rates, lack of environmental enrichment and inhumane slaughter methods.

Good Turkey Award

The Good Turkey Award recognises companies that use or are committing to use (within five years) higher welfare systems for turkeys, addressing stocking density, use of fast growing breeds and a lack of environmental enrichment.

To date, more than 1.2 million turkeys are set to benefit each year as a result of our Good Turkey Award winners' policies.

Eligibility and Criteria

You will need to be a well-known or notable food company that can satisfy the following criteria:

 Current policy or five year commitment to achieve:

• Lower stocking density: Maximum stocking density defined by the “allometric equation” defining the minimum space needed for an active turkey according to its live weight – e.g. 36kg/m² for a 15kg bird or 29kg/m² for a 8kg bird
• No heavy breeds: Only medium to slow growing strains permitted
• Active leg health plan: Active monitoring of foot, hip and leg health with an established improvement plan
• Provision of environmental enrichment: Including perching surfaces, pecking substrates and natural light
• Slaughter: Controlled atmosphere system or effective electrical stunning system with no live inversion

You can apply for a Good Turkey Award under the following categories:

1. Fresh turkey
2. Frozen turkey
3. Further processed and ingredient turkey

If you have any questions about the Good Turkey Award, please contact us for advice.