Scientists at the Rehovot Institute near Tel Aviv have announced a new breed of “naked” chicken, which they claim tastes better than its feathered counterpart.
Israeli genetics expert Avigdor Cahaner said that the red-skinner broiler is designed to grow faster as it does not overheat like normal chickens, whose growth rate slows as they get hot in the summer.
“That’s why poultry meat is expensive in hot countries,” he explained to thisislondon.co.uk. The naked chicken is also cheaper to produce, as it requires no plucking.
Cahaner added that it contains less fat than normal chickens, and produces leaner meat.
From the Green Party, Spencer Fitzgibbon responded to the news saying, “it’s a monster of an animal. We should be working with nature, not against it.”
Adrian Bebb, a GM campaigner with environmental pressure group Friends of the Earth added that he condemned the move: “I think it will have a traumatic effect on animals and the public will be horrified.”
Cahaner was adamant however: “Feathers are a waste,” he said: “The chickens are using feed to produce something that has to be dumped.”
