HSUS Investigation Exposes Shocking Cruelty at Major Egg Supplier's Factory Farm

WASHINGTON — Today, The Humane Society of the United States is releasing results from an undercover investigation that reveals shocking cruelty at a leading egg producer. Photos and video footage document animal abuse at a Wakefield, Neb., factory farm owned by Michael Foods. The egg producer supplies some of the largest food companies in the nation, including Pillsbury, Hellmann's, Mrs. Smith's, Ben and Jerry's, Hostess, and Kraft.

This past winter, an employee at the Michael Foods factory farm documented shocking conditions with a hidden video camera. The worker's primary job was simply to remove dead hens from battery cages—wire enclosures so small that the hens cannot even spread their wings—and pulled out hundreds of corpses for eight hours every day. The employee videotaped inhumane conditions at the massive egg factory, such as live hens confined in cages with decomposing birds; hens caught in cage wires, unable to untangle themselves; sick and injured hens; and immobilized hens dying from dehydration and starvation, just inches away from food and water.

More than 80 percent of the U.S. egg industry follows the United Egg Producers' voluntary program outlining the bare minimum standards for animal husbandry—guidelines that, while still permitting routine abuses of egg-laying hens, are better than no standards at all. Michael Foods does not even participate in this minimal guidelines program and, consequently, is an egg factory farming company whose birds' welfare is often substandard.

The United Egg Producers' Scientific Advisory Committee issued a statement in January 2006 which emphatically criticized egg producers failing to meet even the UEP's guidelines: "Simply stated—failure to adhere to these minimum guidelines is not consistent with humane treatment of laying hens."

"No socially responsible company should be associated with battery-cage egg production, let alone with a company that doesn't even meet the paltry industry guidelines on animal husbandry," stated Paul Shapiro, director of the Factory Farming Campaign for The HSUS. "Clients of Michael Foods should either demand that the company move away from battery-cage egg production or switch to a supplier that takes animal welfare more seriously."

Nationally, a trend away from eggs from caged hens has grown significantly in just the past 18 months. Grocery chains such as Whole Foods Market and Wild Oats Natural Marketplace have eliminated their sales of cage eggs. Trader Joe's recently converted all of its brand eggs to cage-free. Food service provider Bon Appetit is phasing in cage-free shell eggs for all of its 400 cafes. AOL and Google are moving away from cage eggs in their employee cafeterias, and more than 85 schools have enacted policies to eliminate or dramatically decrease their use of cage eggs.

Investigation details, including photographs, are available at www.hsus.org. Video footage is available upon request.

-30-

The Humane Society of the United States is the nation's largest animal protection organization with 9.5 million members and constituents. The HSUS is a mainstream voice for animals, with active programs in companion animals, disaster preparedness and response, wildlife and habitat protection, animals in research, equine protection, and farm animal welfare. The HSUS protects all animals through education, investigation, litigation, legislation, advocacy and field work. The non-profit organization is based in Washington and has field representatives and offices across the country. On the web at www.hsus.org.