AN observer recently reported that he toured a non-cage egg production system and was abhorred by the ammonia and dust levels, explaining how there was so much dust in the house that he could barely see the chickens. Another observer recalled watching a free-range flock attack and devour a snake trying to crawl across the pasture. He wondered how consumers would feel about what the free-range chickens they were paying premiums to buy for their dinner were eating for their dinner.

U.S. commercial egg producers are “letting science speak” as to the care and welfare of birds in numerous production systems, which is the right way to achieve what’s best for hens and producers, according to animal behavior and other scientists who sit on the animal welfare scientific advisory committee for the United Egg Producers (UEP).

Contentedly pecking seed in the open countryside, free-range hens have carefree lives that their counterparts in battery farms can only dream about, or so it has long been believed.

In fact, caged hens are no more stressed than those that roam free, researchers have discovered.

Scientists measured corticosterone, a hormone produced in response to stress or fear, in eggs from free-range and caged hens. They found that the levels in both were very similar.

As for the welfare of the bird, there are benefits and drawbacks for both cage and cage-free production systems, but in many situations, hens in modern cage housing are better off, especially if the housing is managed according to the guidelines of the United Egg Producers’ (UEP) animal welfare program, according to a noted animal welfare scientist. Dr. Joy Mench, in a letter to an executive of one supermarket company, responded to several issues, or statements, raised by an animal activist urging the company to cease merchandising eggs from caged hens.

ATLANTA, Ga. — Are consumers being forced to pay higher food prices? Are their food choices in jeopardy? That’s exactly what could happen if animal rights groups have their way. Led by a vegan agenda, groups such as the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) target food groups, universities, foodservice and retailers, spreading misinformation and touting junk science in an effort to eliminate all food derived from animal production including milk, meat, cheese and eggs.

AN executive at one supermarket company recently wrote the United Egg Producers (UEP) asking for responses to a number of statements an animal rights advocate made opposing the company’s merchandising of eggs from cage production systems. UEP asked Dr. Joy Mench, an animal behavior specialist at the University of California-Davis, to answer the letter.

Ten years ago most consumers weren’t questioning the ingredients in their meals aside from calorie or fat content, but a new trend reported by Packaged Facts, a market research firm in Rockville, Maryland, shows that more and more Americans have serious concerns about their food. Consumers now want to know where their food comes from, how far it travels to reach the store, what the conditions are like along the way, and how food production impacts the environment and public health. Meat, and chicken in particular, often comes under scrutiny.

Consumer choice has great influence over the food system, and consumers are increasingly including animal welfare, environmental concerns, genetic modification, organic and other issues more broadly defined as “social responsibility” issues in their decision-making process.

Likewise, major companies and organizations are spending more time on corporate responsibility in the food system, and retailers are requiring quality assurance, which, in many cases, must be verified by a third party.

Sacramento CA (Oct. 1, 2007) – California egg producers said today that animal activist groups from Washington D.C. were attempting to mislead California consumers and voters about farming practices in the state and trying to take away Californians’ rights to making their own grocery purchasing decisions.

United Egg Producers (UEP), a trade association for U.S. egg family farmers, is leading an animal welfare initiative to educate executives in the food industry sector about proper farm animal care with its second national Animal Welfare Conference for Grocery and Foodservice Executives that took place in Denver on November 7 – 8, 2007.