As of Jan. 1, 2012, egg-laying hens across many European countries have fewer discomforts ruffling their feathers: the European Commission has officially implemented its ban on battery cages, the notoriously cramped cages used by many egg farmers and criticized by animal rights proponents and veterinarians who call them cruel and harmful to the birds' welfare.
The law, finalized in 1999, comes after a 12-year "phase-out" period meant to allow egg farmers time to implement the costly transition away from battery cages. According to the Scotsman newspaper, replacing battery cages with more-hospitable "enriched" cages has alone cost U.K. egg producers an estimated £400 million ($613 million).
Since the ban went into effect three weeks ago, some european countries have done much more to enforce the new law than others, creating a price discrepancy between locally produced eggs and cheaper imports from countries that aren't following the rules.
According to the Scotsman, the European Commission has announced plans to take legal action against the 13 countries not enforcing the rule: Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Spain, Greece, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia and the Netherlands. In the meantime, some stores in the U.K. have pledged not to carry any eggs from battery cage facilities, which may still produce an estimated 51 million eggs per day--one-quarter of Europe's total production.
Leading the movement away from battery cages, Germany banned the practice in 2007. Ian J.H. Duncan (Ph.D., Emeritus Chair in Animal Welfare at the University of Guelph in Ontario and the President of the Animal Welfare Foundation of Canada) said there was little to indicate a similar transition would happen in North America, where the vast majority of eggs are produced by hens in battery cages. But some big-name companies are taking small steps away from battery cages. According to the Humane Society of the United States, International House of Pancakes (IHOP) has agreed to begin testing cage-free eggs in its restaurants after coming under scrutiny for using only battery-cage egg suppliers.
Duncan also used to serve on Burger King's animal welfare advisory committee. In 2007, Burger King announced that it would slowly transition toward eggs and pork that did not come from caged animals. The fast food giant started small, buying two percent of its eggs from cage-free suppliers and vowing to switch over by increments of at least two percent each year. "Now, they're at 10 percent," Duncan said. "It's a start."
Source: Food Safety News
