The McDonald's announcement is important and significant because it
is the first time that the welfare and treatment of farmed animals
has been recognized as an issue in its own right. It's not about
human health; it's not about the environment; it's about the
treatment and experience of the animals. It is also important and
significant because chickens, who have been so ignored in this
country, even among farmed animals, are the first to receive welfare
recognition, which they deserve. The McDonald's announcement has set
a standard that other large-scale food operations will be compelled
to meet. This is a Big Step.
http://www.foxnews.com/national/0823/d_ap_0823_16.sml
McDonald's orders improvements in treatment of laying hens
1.43 a.m. ET (555 GMT) August 23, 2000
By Philip Brasher, Associated Press |
WASHINGTON (AP) - McDonald's Corp. wants to make life easier for the
chickens that supply its eggs and is ordering farmers to give the
hens more space and stop the practice of withholding food and water
to increase egg production.
Under the new rules, which were distributed to the fast-food
restaurant chain's 27 suppliers Tuesday, caged hens must have 72
square inches of space, compared to about 50 square inches now. With
the larger space, all the hens should be able to lie down at once.
The standards were recommended to the company by a panel of
scientific advisers that McDonald's formed to address concerns about
the way food animals are being treated, said Robert Langert, senior
director of public and community affairs for McDonald's.
"This is our pathway to be a leader on this issue,'' Langert said.
The European Union already bans the practice of "forced molting,''
which involves removing food and water from hens for 5 days to two
weeks. It's been linked to an increased incidence of harmful
salmonella bacteria in eggs.
McDonald's also wants to phase out the practice of trimming the beaks
of hens, which is done to prevent them from injuring each other.
A spokesman for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, Bruce
Friedrich, praised the new egg rules.
"It's the bare minimum of bare minimums that you refuse to starve and
dehydrate animals to death,'' he said.
Over the past two years, McDonald's also has required beef and pork
processors to improve their handling of livestock prior to slaughter.
McDonald's, which has long been targeted by animal rights activists,
conducts regular audits of the packing plants to determine whether
the animals are being treated humanely and will suspend purchases
from slaughterhouses that don't meet the company's standards.
"This has been a natural evolution from our animal welfare program,''
Langert said of the egg rules.
McDonald's gave its suppliers until the first quarter of next year to
stop forced molting and until the end of the year to comply with the
space requirement.
On the Net: McDonald's: http://www.mcdonalds.com
PETA: http://www.mccruelty.com
http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A6721-2000Aug22.html
McDonald's Tells Farmers to Treat Chickens Better
By Marc Kaufman Washington Post Staff Writer Wednesday, August 23, 2000; Page A01
The McDonald's restaurant chain yesterday launched a major effort to improve the way egg farmers care for their hens--a move that reflects rising scientific and public concern over how farm animals are treated.
McDonald's Corp. sent letters to the farmers who supply the
company with 1.5 billion eggs yearly outlining strict new regulations
for raising hens. The guidelines require 50 percent more space for
each caged hen, ban the controversial practice of withholding food
and water to increase egg production, and require a gradual phasing
out of the "debeaking" that is common in the poultry industry.
The move--the first of its kind by any major U.S. food supplier--was
prompted by a combination of factors, including pressure from animal
rights activists and growing concern among government and academic
scientists that current methods of caring for chickens may increase
the risk for diseases that can be spread to humans. Analysts also
called it a potentially profitable business move--to win credit for
taking a step that might otherwise be required by the government.
The action is the most far-reaching step in a trend that began in
Europe and has recently begun to spread to the United States toward
improving living conditions for all farm animals, for both ethical
and public health reasons.
While the European Union has already banned practices such as the
"forced molting" of hens and has required a phasing out of all
chicken caging by 2012, U.S. authorities have moved more slowly and
have relied more on industry recommendations.
Recently, however, the United Egg Producers (UEP), which represents
many of the nation's suppliers, was handed recommendations on chicken
living conditions by its scientific advisory committee very similar
to those adopted by McDonald's. In addition, the Department of
Agriculture is evaluating the raising of chickens that supply eggs
purchased for federal lunch and other food programs.
"There has been a definite spillover of concern about farm animals
from Europe to here in recent years," said Joy Mench, a professor at
the University of California at Davis, who is an animal well-being
specialist on both the UEP advisory group and the McDonald's
scientific committee that recommended the new guidelines.
"There is a concern about the crowding of animals and their inability
to perform typical behaviors in their housing, and industry here is
being forced to respond," she said. "McDonald's and the UEP are
responding here, and I think others will be forced to address their
animal welfare issues in the future."
Many supermarket shoppers already have the option of buying organic
and "free-range" eggs that are produced without cages, forced molting
or debeaking. Those premium eggs make up a small portion of the egg
market--industry sources estimate it at 2 percent to 3 percent of the
239 billion eggs produced yearly--but this segment is growing and
commands considerably higher prices.
The new McDonald's guidelines will not be as strict as those
governing the premium eggs, advocates for farm animal protections
say, but they will significantly expand the number of eggs produced
with humane issues in mind.
As a result, some of the company's harshest critics in the past
welcomed the new guidelines yesterday. "We are very appreciative of
what the company has done, and think they are doing the right thing,"
said Steven Gross, who has served as a negotiator for People for the
Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) in its two-year discussions with
McDonald's. "Other companies in this field have been dragging their
feet and, frankly, we think this decision will have the salutary
effect of waking them up."
"These issues about how food animals are raised are here to stay,"
said Gross, whose group is supporting legislation in Illinois to ban
hen cages entirely. While the new guidelines do call for a
significant increase in the size of chicken cages, the cages will
remain very tight for the birds--providing 72 square inches per bird.
That will allow the birds to all lie down at the same time, said
Robert Langert, McDonald's community affairs director, and will give
all of them access to food. But activists say they will still be
unable to fully stretch their wings or perform many basic bird
behaviors.
The practice of forced molting--which involves the withholding of
food for five to 14 days--has been used by producers for decades to
increase the egg-laying capacity of hens. But some scientists have
concluded that the stress of forced molting can increase the levels
of disease-causing salmonella, and animal rights activists have
called it inhumane.
The beaks of many hens are removed because they will otherwise peck
one another to death, industry officials say. The fact that they are
packed so tightly into cages and that the hens have been bred to
increase their aggressive qualities lead to the potentially lethal
pecking. While the McDonald's guidelines call for a phasing out of
"debeaking," they acknowledge that it may take some time.
All of the new guidelines will be enforced though an inspection
process that the company also uses with its meat producers, according
to Langert. McDonald's does not own any of its suppliers, he said.
Producers have voiced concern that changes like those sought by
McDonald's will raise prices significantly. McDonald's officials
would not comment on the possible cost of the new guidelines, but one
egg supplier said they will probably add about 2 cents per egg.
According to Robert Krouse of Midwest Poultry Services, the decrease
in the number of birds per cage will be the most costly change.
While both McDonald's and animal rights advocates spoke yesterday of
the health and ethical issues involved in the new guidelines,
financial analyst Bruce J. Raabe, who covers McDonald's for Collins &
Co. in San Francisco, saw other motivations. "Big companies are
increasingly being held responsible for the practices of their
subcontractors--like Nike and other sneaker makers with plants they
don't even run in Third World countries," Raabe said. "This should
be seen as part of the same phenomenon--of companies trying to get
out ahead of a potential problem and turning their own reaction into
a potential asset."
United Poultry Concerns. August 23, 2000
United Poultry Concerns, Inc.
PO Box 150
Machipongo, VA 23405-0150
757-678-7875
FAX: 757-678-5070
www.upc-online.org
(McDonald's Tells Farmers To Treat Chickens Better)
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