SAN DIEGO — The Honest Kitchen announced March 31 it has officially joined the ASPCA’s Better Chicken Commitment, joining more than 200 other food industry companies in a mission to improve animal welfare for farmed animals.

The Better Chicken Commitment is a chicken welfare policy addressing breeding, housing, stocking density and slaughter issues in the industry. The Honest Kitchen has worked with the ASPCA and the Global Animal Partnership (GAP) to ensure chicken sources for all its products meet the Better Chicken Commitment standards by 2024.

“As we continue to work toward further raising the bar for quality standards and responsible sourcing from farmers who care and who adhere to more humane husbandry practices, we’re making the Better Chicken Commitment as a way to truly cement our purchasing policies and to go even further in ensuring elevated welfare standards,” said Lucy Postins, founder and chief integrity officer of The Honest Kitchen.

“We began working with the ASPCA last year in a nationwide effort to help drive higher welfare practices,” Postins continued. “As such, by 2024, we will source 100% of our chickens from farms that have earned GAP Certification, and we will require that all our chickens are processed using a multi-step CAS processing system, which is widely considered more humane.”

The Honest Kitchen will strive to achieve these goals in several phases, starting with the chicken recipes for its Proper Toppers portfolio and Parmesan Pecks cookies for dogs.

The human-grade pet food and treat company will work toward GAP certification by the end of 2021. Next, The Honest Kitchen will reevaluate chicken sources for its Whole Food Clusters, wet pet food offerings and other treat lines, with the goal of having them GAP-certified by 2024.

Once The Honest Kitchen is fully certified through the Better Chicken Commitment, the company will be included on the ASPCA’s Shop With Your Heart Brand List, which features animal welfare-conscious products for dogs and cats.

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