How do I know if a chicken is hormone free?
Richard Cornish
Photo: Madison Rae
How do I know if a chicken is hormone free? L. Blakely
Artificial hormones have not been used in the Australian chicken industry for more than half a century. It s like unleaded petrol. In the olden days, we used to put lead in petrol and spew lead fumes over our kids, which made them sick and stupid. We don t do that anymore. Thankfully. Nor do we feed chooks hormones anymore. It s the beef and pork industry that uses hormones. Forty per cent of beef cattle are given hormone growth promotants (HGP), adding $210 million to the industry s value each year. When it comes to industrial pork, a hormone called reporcin is administered daily for 30 days before the pig is slaughtered using a gas-powered injection gun. According to Australian accreditation system Humane Choice, there is no waiting time between the last injection and processing of the pig for human consumption . If you don t like the ide