General Mills announces new cage-free eggs policy

imo, this is huge, a great change for everyone. i'll buy more GM products going forward

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http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/health/general-mills-announces-new-cage-free-eggs-policy-article-1.2284139

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General Mills announces new cage-free eggs policy

Orlin Wagner/ASSOCIATED PRESS

General Mills has updated its animal welfare policy and pledged to go cage-free.

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Food maker General Mills announced a major move toward cage-free eggs Tuesday as part of an updated animal welfare policy that now extends throughout its global supply chain.

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The Golden Valley-based company committed itself to 100 percent cage-free eggs for its U.S. operations, a move several other large companies also have taken recently. The company did not set a deadline but said it will work with its suppliers to determine a "reasonable timeline," given the disruption that bird flu has caused to the U.S. egg supply.

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Eggs are an important ingredient in many products for General Mills, whose brands include Betty Crocker, Pillsbury, Progresso soups, Yoplait yogurt and Hamburger Helper. Some of its products, such as Haagen-Dazs ice cream made in Europe, already go beyond cage-free and use only free-range eggs.

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"General Mills' announcement is a major victory to improve the lives of farm animals," said Josh Balk, senior director of food policy for the Humane Society of the United States, which worked with the company to develop the policy.

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For such a large food company to make the switch "is another indicator that the future of egg production in this country has to be cage free," he said.

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The new policy is based on the Five Freedoms of Animal Welfare, a set of principles developed by the British government. They include freedom from hunger, thirst and malnutrition; freedom from discomfort; freedom from pain, injury and disease; freedom from fear and distress; and freedom to engage in normal patterns of animal behavior.

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Wal-Mart, the company's biggest food retailer, adopted a similar policy based on those principles in May.

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Seth Perlman/ASSOCIATED PRESS

Some General Mills products, such as Haagen-Dazs ice cream made in Europe, already go beyond cage-free and use only free-range eggs.

While General Mills was already applying those principles with its dairy suppliers, the new policy extends them to all animals in its worldwide supply chain, said Steve Peterson, the company's director of sustainable sourcing. The policy encourages but does not require dairy suppliers to move away from de-horning milk cows, following the example of the beef industry.

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It also encourages the elimination of tight confinement for pregnant sows by 2017; better pain relief for and the potential elimination of castration and tail docking for piglets; and more study of animal welfare problems associated with fast-growing breeds of broiler chickens and turkeys.

Peterson said it will take time to work with suppliers to ensure adequate supplies of ingredients raised in conformance with the new policy.

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"You just don't make these transitions quickly," he said.

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The animal welfare changes follow General Mills' announcement last month that it's dropping artificial colors and flavors from its cereals. Spokeswoman Shannon Heine said both moves reflect the company giving consumers what they want.

[Edited 7/7/15 17:23pm]

I love this news.

If true, it is a wish come true.

I like this myself, I wish there was some way to do the same thing in India.

However, it seems a bit hypocritical if, after keeping the chickens cage free, they'll ultimately become dinner....? I mean what's the point then?

domainator2010 said:

I like this myself, I wish there was some way to do the same thing in India.

However, it seems a bit hypocritical if, after keeping the chickens cage free, they'll ultimately become dinner....? I mean what's the point then?

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well, the point is the food chain is natural (if cruel) but torturning an animal prior to an unpleasant death through ill-treatment is not natural nor desirable

Certainly a step in the right direction. And I applaud them for that.

Just so we all know, though, "cage-free" can still be a cruel practice depending on how it's carried out. From the humane society's website: "As the term implies, hens laying eggs labeled as "cage-free" are uncaged inside barns, but they generally do not have access to the outdoors. They can engage in many of their natural behaviors such as walking, nesting and spreading their wings. Beak cutting and forced molting through starvation are permitted. There is no mandatory third-party auditing, though producers can choose to get certified according to the standard of one of the organizations below."

http://www.humanesociety....oogle.com/

CarrieMpls said:

Certainly a step in the right direction. And I applaud them for that.

Just so we all know, though, "cage-free" can still be a cruel practice depending on how it's carried out. From the humane society's website: "As the term implies, hens laying eggs labeled as "cage-free" are uncaged inside barns, but they generally do not have access to the outdoors. They can engage in many of their natural behaviors such as walking, nesting and spreading their wings. Beak cutting and forced molting through starvation are permitted. There is no mandatory third-party auditing, though producers can choose to get certified according to the standard of one of the organizations below."

http://www.humanesociety....oogle.com/

True Carrie.

I am not a believer unless I see. I love that I am in an area where "Fresh Eggs" can be found.... drive right up to their home and see them almost gather them fresh. Almost.

But will any of those same cage-free eggs be organic or all natural?

TonyVanDam said:

But will any of those same cage-free eggs be organic or all natural?

What is natural anymore... what is natural...

I dunno....
I've gotten so used to having eggs in a cage,
I don't think I'll ever feel free eating 'em.