McDonald’s Announces It Will Use Only Free-Run Eggs

For at least the past 10 years, the Humane Society of the United States has pressed McDonald’s to switch to cage-free eggs at the company’s annual shareholders meeting, said Paul Shapiro, the group’s vice president of farm and animal protection.

“Cage-free” hens can roam freely through an open indoor barn, or a section of a barn, with multiple tiers. The egg switch also comes as McDonald’s prepares to start serving breakfast all day at its US locations next month, a move that risks exacerbating an egg shortage. McDonald’s Canada introduced a salad leaf blend, including baby kale, in its three chef-inspired contemporary salads in May 2015.

Facing years of disappointing domestic sales that have forced it to close restaurants, McDonald’s has been working to improve consumer perception of its food as part of its turnaround plan.

“We know today that consumers care deeply about what is in their food, where it comes from, how animals are treated”, said Marion Gross, senior vice-president of North American Supply Chain at Oak Brook, Ill.-based McDonald’s Corp., who said the restaurant chain had received a large amount of feedback about hen housing systems during its “Our Food, Your Questions” social media campaign two years ago. “We welcome McDonald’s actions to continue these efforts and are pleased to join them in sourcing cage-free eggs across their supply chain”.

Annually, Canadian McDonald’s restaurants purchase approximately 120 million eggs to serve on its breakfast menu.

The Humane Society of the United States said McDonald’s transition to cage-free eggs will spare almost 8 million animals each year from life inside cramped cages. “This signals the end of the cage age for laying hens in the U.S”.

To keep up with customer demand, the fast food chain says it will source 100 per cent Canadian cage-free eggs, known as free-run eggs in Canada. However, the company is hoping their decision will have a big impact on suppliers. US farmers produced about 87 billion table eggs previous year, according to the Agriculture Department. We don’t anticipate needing to change our menu pricing, even though some of our costs may go up as a result. “We can’t remain static and remain relevant to customers”. “It makes it clearer than ever that cages just do not have a future in the egg industry”.