MCNUGGETS
A McDonald's 10 piece chicken McNuggets is photographed at the Times Square location in New York March 4, 2015. McDonald's Corp's U.S. restaurants will gradually stop buying chicken raised with antibiotics vital to fighting human infections, the most aggressive step by a major food company to force chicken producers to change practices in the fight against dangerous "superbugs". Reuters/Shannon Stapleton

McDonald's and Tyson Foods have severed ties with a Tennessee-based poultry farm that supplies chicken meat for the fast food chain's McNuggets after a video showing animal cruelty surfaced. The 2-minute and 5-second undercover video was filmed for four weeks by advocacy group Mercy For Animals (MFA) at T&S Farm in Dukedom, revealing the sordid conditions of both the animals and the farm itself.

The said video, which was posted on YouTube and can be viewed below, shows the chickens being clubbed and stabbed with a pole that has a large spike on its end. Then, the workers stood on the birds' necks and pulled the bodies to break their necks. MFA said in a PR Newswire press release that some of the chicks were subjected to incorrect processes to make them grow faster, resulting in various deformities and illnesses. T&S Farm reportedly has a capacity of over 120,000 birds.

"The secret ingredient in McDonald's Chicken McNuggets is brutal animal abuse," MFA president Nathan Runkle said. He also noted that Tyson Foods, which contracted the Tennessee farm, as well as McDonald's, have the responsibility to end the "worst forms of cruelty to animals in their supply chain."

MFA also posted a petition against Tyson Foods in its official website. The non-profit animal advocacy organization asks supporters to sign the petition and stop the animal cruelty.

In response, Tyson Foods, which supplies chicken products to the global fast food chain, released its own statement condemning the act. The company said that the members of its animal well-being team are conducting an investigation into the matter, adding that they are terminating the farmer's contract to grow chickens for them.

McDonald's also published a statement on its website saying that it supports Tyson's decision to cut ties with T&S Farm. The company says that the behaviour in the MFA undercover video is "completely unacceptable." The video comes on the heels of a "transparency campaign" that McDonald's itself launched in 2014 to answer questions about how its products are prepared and to dispel rumours about its practises. This move was reportedly in response to dwindling sales.

T&S Farm has not commented on the matter as of this writing.

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Hidden-Camera Exposes Disgusting Secret Behind McDonald’s Chicken McNuggets

Source: YouTube/Mercyforanimals

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