The New United Egg Producer Guidelines:
Same Cruelty, New Deception

Under intense pressure from increasing concerns about hen welfare, in 2002, egg industry trade group United Egg Producers (UEP) announced a new voluntary program for its member producers. Companies agreeing to abide by the UEP’s new welfare guidelines will be able to label their products “Animal Care Certified.”

While the UEP is hoping this label will assuage concerns of consumers about the treatment of the hens whose eggs we eat, the label will actually mean very little to the hens themselves.

Currently, hens in battery cages are allotted an average of 50 square inches of space per bird. The McDonald’s, Burger King, and Wendy’s voluntary reforms in 2001 and 2002 mandate an immediate implementation of between 72 and 75 square inches per bird, and also prohibit forced molting (starving birds to induce a new laying cycle) and discourage debeaking (searing off parts of chicks’ beaks to minimize the impact of stress-induced aggression).

Unlike the fast-food reforms, the UEP guidelines mandate only 67 square inches per bird, and, instead of immediate implementation, there is a five-year phase-in period. Moreover, there is neither prohibition on forced molting nor any discouragement of debeaking.

While the UEP guidelines fall short of even the minimal fast-food guidelines, none of the reforms ensures the welfare of egg-laying hens. No matter which company is using their eggs, no hens in battery cages will ever see sunlight, touch the earth, or even flap their wings. They will still live suspended above manure pits, sometimes dying in their cages, forcing other hens to eat and sleep on top of their corpses.

The European Union has already banned conventional battery cages—with a phase-out period ending in 2012, and several countries have banned all cages for egg-laying hens.

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