Animal Welfare Gaining Ground in U.K.: McDonald’s

McDonald's wants improved standards from its suppliers ,as it sees animal welfare becoming of growing importance for British consumers and restaurant chains.

"Animal welfare across the next couple of years will become a mass topic of discussion in the general public," Steve Easterbrook, chief executive officer of McDonald's Restaurants was quoted as telling delegates at the Oxford Farming Conference.

McDonald's in Britain has served only free range eggs during the last 10 years and Easterbrook said the company was currently looking at providing canopy cover for chickens to encourage hens to range more.
He said the company also was working to improve pig rearing practices to allow them to behave more naturally so as to reduce tail biting ant to remove the need to routinely dock tails.

Easterbrook was cited as saying the environment was also becoming an important factor in consumer buying preferences with the disposal of food contaminated waste a major challenge.