McDonald’s switches to 100% cage-free eggs across the U.S.

All of the eggs sold at McDonald’s restaurants across the United States now come from cage-free farms.

The fast food giant said it’s been working toward transitioning to 100% cage-free eggs in America since 2015 with hopes to reach that goal by 2025. The company hit that milestone at the end of 2023, nearly two years early.

McDonald’s is one of the largest buyers of eggs in America. In 2023, the company purchased almost 2 billion eggs from its supplier Cargill. That number is close to six times the U.S. population.

Cage-free eggs come from hens that are housed in open environments that allow birds “freedom to express their natural behaviors,” McDonald’s said in a news release. That includes enrichment tools like perches, nests and scratching areas.

Each farm that provides eggs to McDonald’s restaurants in the U.S. is required to have an attending veterinarian who helps train and educate the staff.

Some of the farms, including a fourth-generation family-owned farm in Minnesota, didn’t have the infrastructure to support the cage-free initiative, but were aided by McDonald’s and Cargill to help with the transition.

“As a family, we sat down and said, ‘Are we going to be able to do it?’” said Peter Forsman, who owns Forsman Farms in Howard Lake, Minnesota. “We had zero cage-free systems, and we knew this was going to be a big challenge.”

McDonald’s says it worked with “animal welfare experts and academics” to help egg producers build and renovate their farms with new technology.

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Bob Stewart, Chief Supply Chain Officer for McDonald’s in North America, said the transition to 100% cage-free eggs was a “huge undertaking,” that would not have been possible without complete cooperation from all members of the supply chain.

“I am incredibly proud of what we achieved together and the positive impact we will continue to make on the path toward a more sustainable future,” Stewart said in a news release.

McDonald’s says it is committed to improving and ensuring the quality of life for animals that contribute to its menus, including chicken, cows and pigs.

The company says it has implemented, or is in the process of implementing, several changes to the way it sources meat products and how the animals are treated prior to slaughter.

For more detailed information about those goals, click here.

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