Guckenheimer Serves Up a Cage-Free Egg Policy |
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February 12, 2007
Guckenheimer, one of the largest private, U.S.-owned food service companies in the nation, has joined the rapidly growing movement away from battery cage confinement of egg-laying hens.
The Redwood Shores, Calif.-based company, which serves meals to nearly two million customers daily in almost half of U.S. states, began its phase-in of buying cage-free eggs exclusively from producers that are third-party-audited by Humane Farm Animal Care.
"The Humane Society commends Guckenheimer for its leadership in the growing movement away from eggs from caged hens," said Paul Shapiro, Factory Farming Campaign director for The HSUS. "By implementing an exclusively cage-free egg policy, Guckenheimer has set a positive example for other socially responsible companies to follow."
Policy Helps Hens
Egg-laying hens confined in battery cages have so little space they are unable to spread their wings or walk, let alone engage in other important natural behaviors such as nesting, foraging, perching and dust bathing. Each caged hen has less floor space than a single letter-sized sheet of paper on which to live, leading to extremely high levels of stress and frustration.
Guckenheimer is in good company. A growing number of schools and companies are moving away from eggs from caged hens. More than 100 schools across the country—including Berkeley, Stanford, University of Wisconsin-Madison and Georgetown—have enacted policies to eliminate or greatly reduce their use of eggs from caged hens.
National retailers such as Whole Foods Market and Wild Oats Natural Marketplace refuse to carry battery cage eggs. Trader Joe's has switched its private-line eggs to cage-free. Ben & Jerry's is phasing out the use of battery cage eggs. Even companies such as AOL and Google have ended the use of cage eggs in their employee cafeterias.
Shapiro added, "The writing is on the wall: Companies concerned about social responsibility are flocking away from battery cage eggs."
See the Video
Battery-Cage Eggs
Related Links
The HSUS's Campaign to Ban Battery Cages
Egg-Laying Hens Photo Gallery
Scientists and Experts on Battery Cages and Laying Hen Welfare
