For some time, it seemed like the plight of egg-laying hens—confined to cages so small they can’t even spread their wings—was ending. Restaurants, retailers, hotels and manufacturers, as well as food service and hospitality groups, suddenly recognized that consumer revulsion might cost them real money. So they rushed to announce self-imposed deadlines to go cage-free.
But one animal welfare group monitoring whether companies are fulfilling their pledges has discovered that the large majority of producers and sellers of egg products that promised to go cage-free declined to say whether they’d made any progress.
Of 100 companies surveyed, only 27 reported progress, according to Compassion in World Farming’s second annual report, EggTrack. Some, including Hyatt Hotels Corp., did report significant movement, while for others it’s been slow going. Cereal giant Kellogg Co., which said less than 1 percent of the eggs it uses are cage-free, told Bloomberg it uses few animal products anyway. As for one Kellogg brand that does, Morningstar Farms, it’s exploring ways to convert to vegan options. Kellogg pledges it will still meet its goal of being cage-free by the end of 2025.
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