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McDonald’s will transition to cage-free eggs
McDonald’s has announced that it will fully transition to cage-free eggs over the next ten years.
The fast-food giant has been studying the issue since 2010. The company says it has worked with the Coalition for a Sustainable Egg Supply to better understand the impact of various hen housing systems on animal health and welfare, the environment, worker health, food safety and food affordability.
In a news release, McDonald’s USA president Mike Andres said its customers are increasingly interested in knowing more about their food and where it comes from. “Our decision to source only cage-free eggs reinforces the focus we place on food quality and our menu to meet and exceed our customers’ expectations,” Andres said.
“We’re proud of the work we’re doing with farmers and suppliers to advance environmentally and socially conscious practices for the animals in our supply chain,” said Marion Gross, chief supply chain officer of McDonald’s North America. “This is a bold move and we’re confident in our ability to provide a quality, safe, and consistent supply.”
Randy Olson, executive director of the Iowa Egg Council, says McDonald’s has a right to choose how it wants its eggs produced.
“Thankfully, we live in a world of free choice and McDonald’s has made a choice—and our egg farms that supply McDonald’s will no doubt meet their needs,” Olson says.
“The good news is that Iowa egg farms, and egg farms across the country, have long been committed to the health and well-being of their hens in a variety of systems—cage and cage-free,” Olson says. “So consumers can be assured that, no matter how their eggs are produced, their farmers are taking good care of their hens.”
AUDIO: Randy Olson
Animal rights activists see it a bit differently, however. Paul Shapiro, vice president of farm animal protections with the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), tells Brownfield that McDonald’s move sends a signal to America’s egg producers.
“The McDonald’s announcement makes it clearer than ever that the caging of chickens has no future in the egg industry,” Shapiro says. “The problem for the egg industry is that its standard practice of nearly immobilizing animals in cages is so extreme that it’s just out of step with mainstream American values about how animals ought to be treated.”
AUDIO: Paul Shapiro HSUS
On an annual basis, McDonald’s USA purchases approximately two billion eggs. That is a little over two percent of total U.S. table egg production, which last year totaled 87 billion eggs.
Since 2011, McDonald’s USA has been purchasing more than 13 million cage-free eggs annually.
Brownfield’s Meghan Grebner contributed to this story.
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