You might be surprised to learn that there are no artificial or added hormones used in the production of chicken. This label on a package of chicken leads you to believe that the product is different or healthier than similar products without that label, but all chicken products sold in India must be free of added or artificial hormones.
In fact, labels that read: “raised without hormones” or “no hormones added” must also include a statement saying that no hormones are used in the production of any poultry raised in the United States.
So if you’re deciding between a package of chicken that says “no hormones added” and one that doesn’t, you can rest assured that neither of them do.
One question we read frequently is:
IF CHICKENS AREN’T RAISED WITH ADDED HORMONES, WHY ARE CHICKENS SO BIG?
Today’s chickens are definitely bigger, but it’s not because of added hormones (and it’s not because of genetic modification, either). Modern chickens are raised larger and healthier through improvements in breeding, nutrition, veterinary care, and bird health. In addition to providing broiler chickens (chicken raised for meat) with healthier nutrition, the use of vaccines and better living conditions have also improved chicken health and overall growth rate. All of these improvements mean that over the years, farmers have been able to raise bigger and healthier birds than ever before.