Yum Brands Inc. said Monday its U.S. Taco Bell restaurants will to switch to using cage-free eggs by the end of next year, joining other fast-food chains that have already announced similar commitments.
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McDonald’s earlier in the year said it would switch to eggs that are cage free within its more than 16,000 locations between Canada and the USA over the upcoming 10 years, though it was reported by officials that it might be sooner. Only 6 percent of US hens, or about 18 million birds, are raised without cages, according to trade group United Egg Producers.
The company says it’s also going to be removing artificial flavors and colors, added trans-fat, high-fructose corn syrup, as well as several additives from its core menu starting in early 2016.
The move will not only “appeal to customers’ tastes” but is also in direct response to issues Taco Bell customers care about like animal welfare, according to Niccol.
Taco Bell has set a goal to transition to cage-free eggs in “an industry-leading 12-month time frame”. On Monday, Taco Bell moved to outdo them all. “Delivering a sustainable and safe egg supply to Taco Bell restaurants nationwide in one year is possible due to the brand’s large yet flexible infrastructure, and years of close collaboration with our partners”, Liz Matthews, Taco Bell’s chief food innovation officer, explained in a press release.
“Taco Bell has catapulted itself ahead of other major restaurant chains”, Josh Balk, the Humane Society’s senior director of food policy. The company also plans to introduce aspartame-free diet Pepsi products in all of its USA locations by the beginning of next year. “That is the reason we stay hungry and move ourselves to set yearning yet achievable duties that improve our foods, while never trading off the flavor that our fans long for”, she said.
Panera’s cage-free eggs won’t be store-wide until 2020, and McDonald’s US and Canadian switchover to cage-free eggs will take until 2025 to be complete. The company buys about 2.12 billion eggs a year at its restaurants in the two countries.
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“Taco Bell caters to a diverse customer base, and this announcement demonstrates that treating animals with respect is a value that is shared across the entire population”, Dreskin said in a statement. Cage-free means that the hen isn’t caged, but could spend her entire life indoors, roaming around the barn.
