[fullwidth background_color=”” background_image=”” background_parallax=”none” enable_mobile=”no” parallax_speed=”0.3″ background_repeat=”no-repeat” background_position=”left top” video_url=”” video_aspect_ratio=”16:9″ video_webm=”” video_mp4=”” video_ogv=”” video_preview_image=”” overlay_color=”” overlay_opacity=”0.5″ video_mute=”yes” video_loop=”yes” fade=”no” border_size=”0px” border_color=”” border_style=”” padding_top=”20″ padding_bottom=”20″ padding_left=”0″ padding_right=”0″ hundred_percent=”no” equal_height_columns=”no” hide_on_mobile=”no” menu_anchor=”” class=”” id=””][title size=”1″ content_align=”left” style_type=”underline solid” sep_color=”#000000″ margin_top=”” margin_bottom=”” class=”” id=””]McDonald’s says it will switch to cage-free eggs in the United States and Canada over the next 10 years[/title][fusion_text]Wednesday, September 9th 2015
McDonald’s says it will switch to cage-free eggs in the United States and Canada over the next 10 years, a decision hailed by animal welfare activists as a landmark move because of the company’s buying power. McDonald’s USA buys 2 billion eggs a year and McDonald’s Canada uses another 120 million. U.S. farmers produced about 87 billion table eggs last year, according to the Agriculture Department. Just over 3 percent of laying hens are currently housed cage-free, according to the United Egg Producers. But California already has been pushing egg operations that supply that state to go cage-free because of a law that took effect this year. McDonald’s said research by the industry-led Coalition for a Sustainable Egg Supply figured into its decision. The McDonald’s move comes as the company is moving to an all-day breakfast menu and as it tries to pull out of an extended earnings slump. The company noted that in 2000, it was the first major food service company to set a standard for hen housing that required farms to allow more space in cages for hens. The announcement also comes as egg producers in Iowa and Minnesota are struggling to rebuild their flocks in the wake of an avian influenza outbreak that has cut U.S. egg production by 10 percent.
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