Twin-Boro News Covers the “Animal Care Certified” Controversy in Three Issues
Twin-Boro News Covers the "Animal Care Certified" Controversy in Three Issues
In late July and early August of 2004, New Jersey’s Twin-Boro News ran
a two-part series on the controversy over so-called "Animal Care Certified"
eggs, as well as a follow-up letter to the editor from COK campaigns director
Paul Shapiro.
Twin-Boro News [N.J.]
July 28, 2004
Fowl Call: Treat Egg-Laying Hens Humanely
First of Two Parts
By Allison Schiff, Staff Writer
It’s very possible that the Animal Care Certified (ACC) logo now appearing
on most egg cartons in grocery stores across the country might have escaped
many people’s attention.
Among local stores, the ShopRite in New Milford, the Pathmark in Bergenfield
and Dumont’s Stop N Shop all carry an assortment of egg varieties with
the ACC mark. Everything from ShopRite brand Grade A large white eggs to cage-free
vegetarian Grade A brown eggs has the United Egg Producers (UEP) endorsed stamp.
ShopRite and Stop N Shop brands use the new logo, as do Land O Lakes, the Pennsylvania-based
producer Sauder’s and Egg Innovations, headquartered in Wisconsin.
The ACC symbol—a small, half-circle cut through the middle by a large
check mark—might be unnoticed on the package, but the debate swirling around
it appears to be quite heated.
United Egg Producers, a Georgia-based umbrella organization representing the
U.S. egg industry, says the Animal Care Certified program is a considerable
step in making the living conditions for laying hens more humane.
But, animal welfare activists, say the ACC logo is synonymous with deceit,
consumer fraud and animal abuse.
Animal Care Certified is the creation of the UEP. In 1999, the United Egg Producers
commissioned a "Scientific Advisory Committee for Animal Welfare" to try and
create a set of guidelines for the egg industry that might improve the well-being
of laying hens.
Members of the committee, all scientists, discussed cage space per bird, handling,
transportation, disposal, molting and the controversial issue of beak trimming.
The outcome of their meetings was the "United Egg Producers Animal Husbandry
Guidelines for U.S. Egg Laying Flocks" now being used to regulate a "specific
standard of care" for hens.
Any farm or breeder meeting the standards set by the guidelines is sanctioned
to use the Animal Care Certified logo on its products, indicating voluntary
commitment to animal welfare.
But some believe that the new logo and UEP guidelines are nothing more than
a mere baby step—so small as to be insignificant.
‘THE BARE MINIMUM’
"The Animal Care Certified guidelines offer the bare minimum of care," said
Paul Shapiro, campaigns director for Compassion Over Killing (COK), a Washington-based
animal rights group leading fights against the chicken industry, livestock auctions
and now Animal Care Certified.
"We are not arguing that the conditions on many Animal Care Certified farms
are in violation of the UEP guidelines," said Shapiro. "We are arguing that
the guidelines themselves are insufficient, and we feel that caged birds are
being treated cruelly."
More than 80 percent of the nation’s total egg producers have already
implemented the guidelines. The UEP claims that display of the logo "does not
imply that these eggs are superior to any other eggs, but simply that these
eggs were produced by producers implementing the UEP’s Animal Husbandry
Guidelines."
Compassion Over Killing argues that not only do these guidelines sanction what
the group calls "a case of massive animal cruelty," but also constitutes "a
case of consumer fraud."
DIFFERENT TAKES
One hot button issue is that of per-bird space allowance in the cages; and
the UEP and COK each have a different take on the subject.
"When we first started, the majority of the birds were placed in cages that
were approximately 53 square inches, and with some as small as 40," said Gene
Gregory, UEP vice president.
"But when this whole thing is completed, space allowance will [be] 67 to 86
square inches per bird," he said. "So what we’re talking about here is
more than a 20 percent space increase."
"Space might be the most costly aspect of reform," he said, "but we’re
also dealing with equally important factors such as air quality, feed quality,
how to properly handle and transport the birds, and so on."
However, Compassion Over Killing disagreed.
"The average laying hen needs 303 square inches in order to be able to flap
[her] wings," said Shapiro.
"At best, 67 square inches is what most will get under the new guidelines,"
he said, "that is less than one quarter of the space required for free and unrestricted
movement."
"The egg industry talks about improvements in the system," he said. "But when
it comes down to it, we’re only talking about a couple of extra inches
here."
"We believe that the UEP is overreaching somewhat when it calls what it has
come up with ‘humane,’" said Shapiro.
One Bergenfield resident, who is a regular customer at both ShopRite and Pathmark,
said he would "assume that the Animal Care Certified logo means there is humane
treatment of the hens in terms of care and space."
‘WHY NOT?’
"A label would encourage me to buy if they weren’t too much more expensive,"
he said. "I would go for something that looks like the animals were treated
well. Why not?"
Animal Care Certified eggs are now available in supermarkets all over the country.
ShopRite, Pathmark and Stop N Shop, for example, carry ACC eggs, although there
are still cartons available from producers who have not implemented the guidelines
and do not bear the logo.
The UEP gives its "sincerest commitment" that "as egg farmers, we care about
the welfare of our hens."
Participation in the certification program is by choice and follows the final
recommendations made by the scientific panel.
For example, in the case of beak trimming, the scientific advisory board made
a series of suggestions that would limit the pain and discomfort experienced
by hens during the clipping process. According to the UEP, "Therapeutic break
[sic] trimming is recommended at any age if an outbreak of cannibalism occurs."
Though such a measure might seem harsh when operating within the cage system—as
more than 95 percent of U.S. egg producers do—the UEP guidelines cite advantages
to the practice of trimming. Those advantages "may include reduced pecking,
reduced feather pulling, reduced cannibalism, better feather condition, less
fearfulness, less nervousness, less chronic stress (and) decreased mortality."
Gregory said that the certification program is still evolving.
FIRST OF THEIR KIND
The guidelines are the first of their kind, and will continue to develop into
a more-comprehensive set in the future, he said. Although he said animal welfare
is paramount, efforts must also be made to keep the price of eggs stable and
ensure that the farmers are able to keep themselves in business.
"I think that consumers should buy Animal Care Certified eggs because they
were produced under a set of welfare guidelines created by an impartial, scientific
committee," said Gregory. "The other eggs were most likely produced under no
such guidelines."
"There were no guidelines before ours," he said. "We are not saying that our
eggs are nutritionally better or that there is any difference in our eggs other
than the fair and better treatment of the animals."
There has been much talk of what the consumer wants. COK believes the Animal
Husbandry guidelines trick the consumer into believing that the ACC hens are
well treated; the UEP says its guidelines do promote a more-humane environment
for the hens and, therefore, in no way defraud the consumer.
But what does an average consumer think about it all?
Be it consumer fraud or consumer advantage, even after all the debates and
disputes surrounding the Animal Care Certified issue, there are still some consumers
who don’t seem to notice—or care. Unconcerned with COK or with the
UEP, there is at least one shopper who simply wants her eggs in one piece.
"As a person on the go, my food shopping also tends to be on the fly," said
one self-described Bergenfield career woman. "Logo or no logo, the only thing
I look for in a carton of eggs is to make sure that they are not broken."
Next week: How do local residents feel about the new logo? What is happening
in the world arena? What action has the UEP taken to appeal to the consumer
and how does Compassion Over Killing react to their overtures?
Twin-Boro News [N.J.]
August 4, 2004
Animal Care Certified: Eggs-actly What Is That?
Second of Two Parts
By Allison Schiff, Staff Writer
Egg cartons with the new Animal Care Certified (ACC) logo have been popping
up in grocery stores all over the country since 2002.
Supermarkets in Bergenfield, Dumont and New Milford carry a variety of eggs—everything
from jumbo to medium, brown or white—all bearing the ACC symbol.
A small, inconspicuous mark on an egg carton, it continues to be the cause
of a heated debate between animal rights activists and the United Egg Producers
(UEP).
Compassion Over Killing (COK), a Washington-based animal rights group, has
locked horns with the UEP since the egg producers began their ACC program.
Members of the Bergenfield grocery-shopping community take opposing sides regarding
the validity of the ACC seal.
One Bergenfield resident seemed to side somewhat with the COK camp, asking
indignantly, "If the hens are not healthy, then how can you expect the eggs
to be good?"
But while examining the price of a carton of jumbo white in the egg aisle,
another Bergenfield resident said that she didn’t much care about the logo.
"It’s good to know that someone out there is trying to make life better
for the hens," she said, "But I would only be more likely to purchase the Animal
Care Certified eggs if they weren’t more expensive than the other eggs."
In defense of his position, Paul Shapiro, campaigns director for COK, cited
a decision by the Better Business Bureau in May.
The board recommended "that the (ACC) certification program either be discontinued
in its present form or modified to more clearly communicate…that certification
signifies the specific standard of care as set forth in the UEP Guidelines."
In other words, that the UEP should cease marketing its ACC eggs as the product
of humanely treated birds. Shapiro’s group, Compassion Over Killing Inc.,
filed the challenge.
"Instead of Animal Care Certified, the logo should read Animal Cruelty
Certified," said Shapiro. "The guidelines are barely an improvement," he said,
"and the public is being misled into thinking that the logo means humane treatment."
"The current caging system is simply archaic," said Shapiro.
The European Union has begun to phase out the conventional caging system. Germany,
Switzerland and Austria have all taken steps towards the elimination of the
cage system in egg production.
"There is a worldwide movement to change, and other countries are setting the
precedent for alternative housing systems," said Shapiro.
Shapiro admitted, however, that the leap from cage to free-range is a costly
one. Cage operations are almost completely automated. Cage farmers require less
land, less feed and fewer employees.
"Caged hens don’t move around a lot," he said, "so they eat less and don’t
need the extra calories."
COK also railed against the UEP for not mentioning the treatment of male chicks
in its guidelines.
According to the group, "hundreds of millions of male chicks are killed shortly
after birth" in the United States each year because "they will never lay eggs"
and are therefore useless to the egg industry.
Since these male chicks "are different breeds from those raised by the meat
industry" they "are unwanted byproducts of the egg industry; most are ground
up alive or gassed."
But cage farmers are not the only ones to dispose of male chicks. It is also
the practice of many supposedly utopian free-rangers to sell the commercially
unusable male chicks to laboratories or to trash them at birth.
"With the exception of cage space, the UEP’s guidelines do little more
than codify what has long been the industry norm," said Shapiro.
But in the months since the BBB ruling, the UEP says it has made an effort
to inform the public about what the logo means and show that its intent is not
to defraud the consumer.
Newspaper ads, consumer information leaflets in the egg aisles of supermarkets
and personal visits with journalists are all part of a wide-scale consumer education
program currently being initiated by the UEP.
The ACC certification program is self-regulated through third-party independent
audits. A review board checks a potential site and decides if its facilities
have implemented the guidelines effectively.
The UEP has also creased an ACC Web site to outline, in a direct response to
the BBB decision, the "specific standard of care as set forth in the UEP guidelines."
"The birds are all monitored," said UEP vice president Gene Gregory.
Gregory explained how the eggs are gathered onto conveyor belts and taken directly
out of the hen house and into a processing and grading station. The eggs are
always handled in a refrigerated area and usually reach the grocery store within
three or four days of having been laid.
"For health reasons," he said, "the eggs are not touched by human hands until
the buyer actually uses them."
On average, a sizable egg farm could have three million hens, though smaller
farms might have only a few thousand. A typical "productive" hen will lay approximately
260 eggs per years. The life span of a "productive" hen is somewhat shorter
than a regular non-commercial hen.
According to Gregory, however, much of Compassion Over Killing’s work
is sensationalized and its zeal misguided. He said that the group’s mission
is to discredit the UEP and "try to tell the public that animals are being abused
by farmers for profit."
"We took our industry and we are trying to be proactive," he said. "For the
public to know that what we’re trying to do here is a good thing is counter
to what activist groups want the public to know."
"We are very proud of the commitment that our egg producers have shown toward
our program," he said. "The UEP is not evil and our scientists did not come
up with guidelines that are worse than before. These guidelines are evolving
and there will be progress as we go along."
"Compassion Over Killing is simply standing in the way of that progress," said
Gregory.
The problem here appears to be rooted in perspective. At the end of the day,
all parties involved seem to want the same thing.
The UEP says it has taken the initiative to improve animal welfare; and COK
lobbies to better the treatment of agricultural animals.
Though there are some consumers who are not overly concerned with animal welfare—one
Bergenfield resident said that the only thing she looks for in a carton of eggs
"is to make sure that they are not broken"—the majority seem to want a
good product from a healthy hen.
Logos, symbols, guidelines, and the BBB aside, one Bergenfield resident put
the point succinctly in a ‘why can’t we all just get along?’
plea.
"Tell me who would want to hurt a hen if he could help it?"
Letter to the Twin-Boro Editor published on August 18, 2004
Egg Carton Logo Is "Cruelty Certified"
Despite intense criticism from a growing number of animal protectionists and
consumer advocates, the egg industry continues to hype its new animal welfare
logo ["Animal Care Certified," Aug. 4 issue of Twin-Boro News].
As more shoppers learn about the routine animal abuse inherent in modern egg
production, few see a sunny side to the egg industry, leaving its reputation
scrambled.
Unfortunately, the so-called "Animal Care Certified" guidelines permit egg
producers to intensively confine birds in wire "battery cages" so they can’t
even flap their wings, burn off parts of their beaks without painkiller, and
starve them to the point of losing 30 percent of their body weight in order
to induce a new laying cycle.
No one should oppose making the living conditions on factory farms less inhumane.
But when the agribusiness industry uses false advertising on egg cartons to
pretend like its baby steps actually make egg production humane, consumers deserve
better.
Paul Shapiro
Campaigns Director
Compassion Over Killing
Takoma Park, Maryland
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