General Mills Goes Cage-Free
US - US-based global food manufacturer General Mills has announced a new commitment for working towards using only cage-free eggs in its foods.
9 July 2015
2 minute read
By: The move comes as part of an effort to improve animal welfare, by implementing the 'five freedoms' of animal welfare. These include:
- Freedom from hunger, thirst and malnutrition.
- Freedom from discomfort.
- Freedom from pain, injury and disease.
- Freedom from fear and distress.
- Freedom to engage in normal patterns of animal behaviour.
In a statement on its website, General Mills said: "We recognise that the current avian influenza outbreak has been deeply disruptive to the US egg supply and producers.
"As the industry works to rebuild its supply chain, we will work with suppliers to determine a path and reasonable timeline toward this commitment."
The company already goes further than cage-free in the production of its Häagen-Dazs ice cream range, which is manufactured in Europe. All of the eggs used in these products are free-range.
General Mills is also looking into addressing other animal welfare concerns, such as pain relief during castration and tail docking in pork production, and complications during the fast growth of broiler chickens and turkeys.
