Cracking Wendy's Egg Claims |
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August 15, 2007
Fast food chain Wendy's is facing controversy over its continued use of eggs exclusively from battery-caged hens. The company has tried to defend this indefensible practice, but its claims are easily cracked.
1. On its website, Wendy's asserts, "All laying hens which produce eggs for Wendy's must have a minimum space requirement of 72 square inches."
Of course, 72 square inches is significantly smaller than a sheet of letter-sized paper—hardly something to brag about. Confining a four-pound animal to a space smaller than a sheet of paper for more than a year before she's slaughtered is cruel and inhumane.
2. Wendy's goes on to claim that "This requirement is more than 20% above common industry standards."
Not only is Wendy's lagging behind Burger King by exclusively buying eggs from caged hens, the company is also misleading the public about it. The common egg industry standard is to allot each hen 64 to 67 square inches of cage space. Seventy-two square inches is only 7 to 12.5 percent—not "more than 20%"—above the industry standard. And of course, the industry standard is so abusive that it's hardly a worthwhile benchmark to use.
3. In an Associated Press story, a Wendy's spokesperson asserts that "we're just not able to do everything at once."
No one is asking Wendy's to do "everything at once." The Humane Society of the United States and Wendy's were engaged in private dialogue for five months about this issue before The HSUS publicly called on Wendy's to follow in Burger King's modest footsteps. Last March, Burger King committed to reducing its battery egg usage from 100 percent to 95 percent within nine months. In fact, the same Associated Press article quoted a Burger King spokesperson as saying the increased cost for cage-free eggs was "not substantial," and that the company hoped to increase its percentage of cage-free eggs as more suppliers switched over to cage-free systems.
4. In a Columbus Dispatch article, a Wendy's spokesperson claims, "We're not in a position to impact the issue."
With more than 6,300 restaurants in the U.S., Wendy's is certainly in a position to impact the issue. Just like Burger King, all Wendy's would have to do is ask its egg supplier to provide the chain with cage-free eggs. The claim that Wendy's isn't a major egg buyer is disingenuous, as the company is rolling out breakfast menus (including eggs) in a large number of its restaurants. One recent news story says that "Wendy's also plans to roll out breakfast to 20%-30% of its restaurants by the end of 2007 and to more than half of the chain by the end of 2008."
What You Can Do
Call Wendy's at 1-800-443-7266, ext. 2032, and ask it to at least meet Burger King's modest commitment on battery-cage eggs.
See the Video
Battery-Cage Eggs
Related Links
Wendy's Attitude toward Animal Welfare: Frosty
The HSUS's Campaign to Ban Battery Cages
Cage-Free Egg Production vs. Battery-Cage Egg Production
