COK Takes Retailers and Egg Producer to Court for Misleading Claims on Egg Cartons

On Tuesday, February 15, 2005, Compassion Over Killing and four egg consumers filed a lawsuit against Giant Foods, Brookville Supermarket, and Lehman's Egg Service alleging that the "Animal Care Certified" (ACC) logo stamped on egg cartons deceives shoppers by conveying a false message of humane animal care.

Despite Better Business Bureau rulings in 2003 and 2004 that the ACC logo and related advertising are misleading and the BBB's subsequent referral of the matter to the Federal Trade Commission for potential legal action, the egg industry continues to use the logo on egg cartons nationwide.

In the lawsuit, consumers who purchased ACC-labeled eggs claim they were under the impression they were supporting humane animal treatment, and then later learned of the abusive conditions permitted under the ACC program.

The "Animal Care Certified" guidelines permit producers to:

• Confine birds in cages so small they can't even spread their wings,
  
• Slice off parts of their beaks without painkiller, and
  
• Starve them to the point where they've lost up to 30 percent of their bodyweight.

Visit EggScam.com to view COK's photo and video galleries documenting the miserable conditions for hens living on ACC factory farms, and learn more about COK's efforts by viewing our ACC campaign timeline.

More than 85 percent of the nation's egg producers are now certified under the voluntary "Animal Care Certified" program. Presently in the U.S., there are approximately 300 million egg-laying hens confined inside what are known as "battery cages" where, even by ACC standards, each bird is afforded less space than a single sheet of paper. Welfare concerns have prompted several European countries to phase out battery cages, and the use of these barren cages will be phased out of the entire European Union by 2012.

What You Can Do:

• The best way each of us can help laying hens is to leave their eggs out of our shopping carts. Order your free Vegetarian Starter Guide today!
  
  
• Write a short letter to the Federal Trade Commission in support of COK's petition to prohibit egg producers from using the "Animal Care Certified" logo on their cartons. Click here for more information and a sample letter.
  
  
• Talk with your local grocery store manager about why they shouldn't carry eggs in cartons with the "Animal Care Certified" logo. Mention that the Better Business Bureau has twice ruled the logo is misleading consumers, and no reputable grocery store would want to purposefully deceive its customers.