McDonald’s Transitioning to Cage-Free Eggs

The QSR announced a 10-year transition to cage-free eggs at its U.S. and Canadian operations.

September 10, 2015

OAK BROOK, IL – To meet consumers’ changing expectations and preferences, McDonald’s announced a decade-long transition to cage-free eggs for its nearly 16,000 restaurants in the United States and Canada.

“Our customers are increasingly interested in knowing more about their food and where it comes from,” said McDonald’s USA President Mike Andres. “Our decision to source only cage-free eggs reinforces the focus we place on food quality and our menu to meet and exceed our customers’ expectations.”

“We’re proud of the work we’re doing with farmers and suppliers to advance environmentally and socially conscious practices for the animals in our supply chain,” said Marion Gross, senior vice president and chief supply chain officer of McDonald’s North America. “This is a bold move and we’re confident in our ability to provide a quality, safe, and consistent supply.”

On an annual basis, McDonald’s USA purchases approximately two billion eggs and McDonald’s Canada purchases 120 million eggs to serve on its breakfast menus. Since 2011, McDonald’s USA has been purchasing more than 13 million cage-free eggs annually.

“Animal welfare has always been important to us and our customers,” added Gross. “Today’s announcement is another big milestone building on our work with industry experts and suppliers to improve the treatment of animals.”

In 2000, McDonald’s USA adopted a standard for hen housing systems, which provided more space per bird than the industry standard. In 2010, the company initiated research with the Coalition for a Sustainable Egg Supply to better understand the impact of various hen housing systems on animal health and welfare, the environment, worker health, food safety and food affordability. McDonald’s says this research provided insights into the trade-offs of various housing systems for the company to make informed sourcing decisions.

The news follows other actions announced this year by McDonald’s USA to source only chicken raised without antibiotics important to human medicine by 2017 and to offer milk jugs of low-fat white milk and fat-free chocolate milk from cows that have not been treated with the artificial growth hormone rbST.

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement