The Cage Debates: The Egg Industry Pushes Back

by Naomi Shulman, Posted Sep 7th 2010 @ 12:00PM

chicken egg in a cage Photo: Orin Zebest, Flickr

Egg producers are having a tough month. Not only has the latest salmonella outbreak led to bad press and recalls for dozens of different egg brands, but there's also been increasingly strong opposition to battery cages, which are the standard across the industry. The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) decries them; California has moved to ban them. Even the Dalai Lama has spoken out against the 67-square-inch cages in which many hens are destined to spend their lives.

Paul Shapiro, a senior director at HSUS's End Factory Farming campaign, told the Washington Post, "The cage-free movement is not only about providing a humane environment for animals. There is also a strong food-safety component as well." In fact, the HSUS makes the case that battery cages lead to unsanitary conditions, which in turn lead to a tainted food supply. The fact that 550 million tainted eggs involved in the last outbreak appear to have originated in battery cages adds fuel to that fire.

Egg producers are now pushing back a bit, though. United Egg Producers, the industry's top lobbying group, is speaking up about what it calls the myths and facts about battery cages, asserting that free-range hens are no healthier than caged, and that other industry practices, such as beak-trimming, are not as cruel as they sound.

Furthermore, Mitch Head, a UEP spokesperson, told the Post that bans on battery cages would lead to a significant rise in egg prices -- on the order of 25 percent -- for a product that he says would be no safer or healthier. Head refers to the cage debates as political and emotional rather than scientific. "We would prefer that this be worked out through the marketplace and based on science," Head told the Post. "Instead, it's become a political and ballot-box issue. That makes us concerned."

The HSUS lists ten studies in the past five years that suggest greater prevalence of salmonella in caged confinement. However, not all researchers are convinced of a causal link. Marion Nestle, a food-safety expert at New York University, told the Post that while free-range chickens are healthier than caged, free-range facilities still suffer from overcrowding and its accompanying complications. The question of safety may go beyond caged vs. free range, in other words -- it may be a matter of scale.

Filed Under: News
Tags: cage free eggs, egg industry, eggs, featured, Humane Society, HumaneSociety, salmonella

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Reader comments (Page 1 of 1)

9-07-2010 @2:35PM osman said... I can't believe they are pushing back! I've seen those cages and the beak trimming and its a nightmare! I've completely gone to cage free and no antibiotics. I know it costs a bit more, but its so worth the extra dollar to show these cruel bastards that no living thing should be treated that way. I understand that they are chickens and not people, but they must be insane to try and justify this in the name of a dollar more cost for cage free eggs!
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9-07-2010 @7:26PM Michael Schmitt said... Not all caged birds have their beaks trimmed. I used to work at a large commercial egg farm in Washington State, and I know for a fact that the cage-free birds had nearly double the death rate as the humanely caged (this farm was certified as a humane caged farm) hens. The cage free hens would kill each other through a pecking order, they would sometimes get spooked and all flock to one side of the barn, crushing the hens on the bottom of the pile, disease spreads very quickly since the birds walk in their own filth all day long, and predators get to them when they are allowed outside the barn. I support humanely caged hens over cage free ones any day.
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9-09-2010 @8:44AM Theresa said... It would be better for all of us if we ate less protein and more veg. This would also cure the 'demand for cheap food.' There's a reason we're all so fat and unhealthy. Time for Americans to wake up and understand what our gluttony has wrought.
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9-09-2010 @12:39PM Hillary said... The issue of hen mortality in battery cage vs. cage-free facilities comes down to a question of management. Another important factor is the hens' genetic strain. For an in-depth analysis, check out http://www.humanesociety.org/assets/pdfs/farm/mortality_cage_free.pdf.

Hillary, HSUS

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9-09-2010 @6:20PM Mary Hussey said... The Egg Industry is terrified of knowledgeable consumers, and are forever trying to discredit studies that put them in a bad light, which all reputable studies do. Of course they are going to say there is no difference - if they admitted there was, they would have to change the ways they raised their birds, and that would cost them more money. Here are two articles about what the egg labels really mean, and where to get REAL eggs.
http://www.motherearthnews.com/Real-Food/2007-10-01/Tests-Reveal-Healthier-Eggs.aspx
http://www.communitychickens.com/prepare-and-cook/what-does-the-egg-carton-really-say.html
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