McDonald’s Battery Cages

Although Subway recently announced plans to phase out eggs laid by hens in battery cages, McDonald’s board of directors has recommended against a Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) proposal calling on the fast-food chain to commit to guaranteeing at least five percent of its eggs are cage-free. While HSUS cites a Pew Commission report that links battery cages and environmental degradation, McDonald’s claims that there is no “agreement in the global scientific community about how to balance the advantages and disadvantages of laying hen-housing systems.” Because the EU passed a battery-cage ban that takes effect in 2012, McDonald’s has pledged that its European franchises will be 100-percent cage-free by 2010. The company’s shareholders have yet to vote on the proposal.