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Retail Giant Sainsbury’s is introducing ‘touch-free’ packaging for chicken in a bid to cater to people who hate touching raw meat.
According to the supermarket, a recent survey showed handling raw meat cause high levels of anxiety for millennial shoppers. As a result, it is introducing ‘doypacks’ – plastic pouches which make it easy to decant the products straight into the pan – without having to touch them.
The supermarket believes more people will buy raw chicken in the new packaging – because sales of chicken that can be bought and roasted in a bag (without any need to handle it) have been strong.
Sainsbury’s reasoning would appear to be supported by strong sales of chickens that can be bought and roasted in a bag – which many people choose because they can avoid handling the dead carcass.
‘Scared’
Katherine Hall, Product Development Manager for meat, fish and poultry at the retailer, told The Sunday Times that customers – especially younger ones are ‘quite scared of touching raw meat’.
She added: “These bags allow people, especially those who are time-poor, to just ‘rip and tip’ the meat straight into the frying pan without touching it.”
According to Hall, one woman revealed in a focus group that she was so scared of catching food poisoning from raw chicken, that she covered it in antibacterial spray before cooking it.
‘Stomach churning’
Elisa Allen, Director of animal rights charity PETA, told Plant Based News: “PETA fully recognises that meat is stomach-churning stuff, coming, as most of it does, from animals raised on filthy, severely crowded factory farms – where their beaks are seared off or parts of their ears and tails are amputated.
“And all of it comes from a living being whose throat was cut. It’s blood and guts all the way, so everyone – not just millennials – should be put off by touching it and even more so by putting it in their mouth and eating it!
“PETA can help, as there’s only a pleasant sensation when you pick up a free vegan starter kit, which won’t get blood on your frock. Vegan foods appeal to all the senses in a positive way, and no one has to die for them.”
