BJP MP Poonam Mahajan writes to McDonald on sourcing cage-free eggs

Mumbai: Bharatiya Janata Party’s member of Parliament Poonam Mahajan has written a letter to McDonald’s urging it to end the procurement of eggs from battery cage facilities and start sourcing only cage-free eggs in its supply chain.

The letter has been sent in the wake of a series of recent commitments made by McDonald’s to switch to 100 per cent cage-free eggs within its supply chain in United States, Canada and South Africa.  

Ms Mahajan, who is also trustee of People for Animals, has stated in her letter that India is the third largest egg-producing country in the world. It has approximately 120 million egg-laying hens that are bred in cruel, commercial battery cages. These cages are typically less than an A4 size sheet of paper and are named so for the way they are stacked on top of the other in the form of batteries.

While McDonald’s has promised to phase out battery cages in many countries, there has been no commitment from them in India despite repeated efforts from animal welfare advocates, she has stated. “The factory farming of egg-laying hens is replete with cruelty. The birds are crammed wing to wing and nearly immobilised their entire lives. McDonald’s has recently committed to improve animal welfare standards within its supply chain in the United States, Canada and South Africa by phasing out the procurement of eggs from caged hens,” said Ms Mahajan.

She said, “A similar policy adopted in India will change the lives of approximately 120 million egg-laying hens currently housed in battery cages.”

She added that India is the third-largest producer of eggs in the world. Leading egg-producing states in India are Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Haryana, Punjab and West Bengal. “Keeping hens in battery cages are likely to harbour salmonella, which is found in retail eggs and is a major cause of food poisoning in India,” she said.