The Humane Society of the United States has sent letters to the attorneys general of Illinois and six other states asking them to investigate poultry producer Pilgrim’s Pride and its claims of how it treats its chickens.

It’s a new front in Pilgrim’s Pride’s battle with the advocacy group over the way it raises, slaughters and sells its animals.

The Humane Society said it’s following up on a December complaint it filed with the Federal Trade Commission.

The group said that, despite Pilgrim’s pledges that its birds are treated “humanely,” they are instead raised in crowded barns and slaughtered through a method that can result in chickens being “drowned in scalding hot water while fully conscious.”

In its filing with the FTC, the Humane Society alleged the company was misleading consumers with claims that its chickens are “raised, transported and processed as humanely as possible.”