Cage-Free Plan Commended by Humane Societies

Jan. 24, 2008, Vancouver – In a landmark move, Chartwells – a division of Compass Group Canada, the largest food service provider in the country – has announced that Concordia University and Simon Fraser University will begin using only cage-free shell eggs in campus food services in January 2008, followed by the University of Ottawa in September 2008.

The Vancouver Humane Society and Humane Society International/Canada commended the decision. Compass Group Canada follows the lead of Compass Group USA, who announced its cage-free shell egg policy in December, 2007

Approximately 98 percent of eggs in Canada come from hens reared in cages. Countries including Sweden, Switzerland, Germany and the Netherlands have all banned the use of cages, and the European Union has banned the use of cages by the year 2012. Google, Amazon, Ben and Jerry’s, Whole Foods Markets and Capers Community Markets have all dropped eggs from caged hens, and Burger King and Hardees have begun using cage-free eggs. More than 300 schools in North America have either reduced or eliminated eggs from caged hens including the University of Guelph, the University of B.C., Langara College and B.C. Institute of Technology.