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 As food giants face growing pressure to offer healthier produce,
Southeast Asian poultry firm Kee Song Group says its use of "good"
bacteria in feed and water means it can meet one the industry's
biggest challenges: how to mass produce drug and hormone-free
poultry at a reasonable price.
A series of scandals in the last few years from melamine-tainted
milk powder in China, horse meat supplied as beef in Europe and
growth drugs causing lameness in U.S. cattle has triggered a
consumer backlash over food standards and safety.
Recently, Tyson Foods Inc pledged to eliminate the use of human
antibiotics in chicken by 2017, one of the most aggressive
timetables yet by a U.S. poultry firm.
The top American poultry producer, which supplies fast-food chains
such as McDonald's Corp , is among a number of groups globally
incorporating probiotics into feed.
"For meat producers, reputation risks are becoming stronger driving
companies to focus on safe ingredients specially in Europe and the
United States," said Pawan Kumar, director for food and agricultural
research at Rabobank in Singapore.
 Kee Song says the cost to produce drug-free chickens using
probiotics is now only 10-12 percent more than using antibiotic-fed
poultry. It sells these birds at a 30 percent premium in stores, far
less than expensive free-range organic chicken.
The firm annually produces around 4 million drug-free birds at its
Malaysian farms in Yong Peng, 125 km north-west of Singapore, and
aims to expand sales to China and the West.
"Probiotics, either alone or in combination with essential oils and
organic acids, are at the forefront of international approaches to
replace antibiotics," said Wayne Bryden, Professor of Animal Science
at the University of Queensland.
Probiotics populate the gut with healthy bacteria in a bid to curb
bad bacteria, while oils and organic acids are also often included
in feed to aid digestion.
A team at the Australian university, partly funded by feed maker
Ridley AgriProducts, have found in preliminary trials that using a
probiotic can double the efficiency of use of protein from feed to
boost weigh gain in livestock.
SUPERBUGS
An estimated 80 percent of antibiotics used in the United States are
administered to livestock with the use expected to surge by two
thirds globally between 2010 and 2030.
Scientists are worried the practice could spur antibiotic-resistant
superbugs.
McDonald's has also pledged to eliminate chickens fed on human
antibiotics at its U.S. restaurants and is looking at similar steps
in Asia.
"In Asia Pacific, we will be working with our supply partners and
relevant experts to implement this enhanced measure," a company
spokesperson said via email.
While demand for healthier products is increasing fast in the West,
some experts say that in parts of Asia customers will not be
prepared to pay more for drug-free poultry, though China could be a
promising market after high-profile food scares.
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MOZART AND BLUE LIGHTING
In Kee Song's Malaysian poultry farm, 20,000 chickens rest on saw
dust in the dimly lit barns, with feed and water laced with
probiotics being automatically pumped into feeding pans.
As well as playing Mozart, lighting is used in a bid to keep the
birds tranquil with neon blue lighting turned on when the birds are
taken for slaughter.
"Look at the environment, chickens stay healthy and happy here," the
firm's Chairman Ong Kee Song told Reuters.
"Even the droppings don't smell," added Ong, who has been a
vegetarian for 17 years after a stay at a Buddhist temple.
Traditional chicken farms are notorious for producing noxious fumes
as well as loud noise from squawking birds.
Growth hormones mixed with feed can also produce oversized breasts
and wings that underdeveloped legs struggle to support for more than
a few steps.
Chia Tet Fatt, a molecular geneticist who previously was a professor
at Singapore's Nanyang Technological University teamed up with Kee
Song to produce the probiotic used, lactobacillus, and confirmed
chickens were not fed any drugs or antibiotics.
Tan Chee Kiang, vice president of Charoen Pokphand, the world's
biggest animal feed miller, also said the feed it supplied to Kee
Song was free of antibiotics.
By not using drugs, the poultry farms need to maintain stringent
cleanliness measures to avoid the risk of infection and it takes
three days more than conventionally produced chickens to attain a
commercially viable weight of 1.8 to 2.0 kg.
As well as supplying supermarkets, Kee Song also sells to some
restaurants in Singapore, including French restaurant Cocotte, where
the chicken is used for a signature dish.
(Editing by Ed Davies)
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