Subway restaurants will soon be launching the chain's breakfast menu nationwide. As part of the company's commitment to environmental responsibility, the eggs on its new menu will eventually be from cage-free hens.
As part of its new animal welfare policy, the Subway chain will ensure that, to start, 4 percent of the eggs used for its breakfast menu nationwide do not come from hens living in battery cages. The brand plans to switch to 100 percent of its eggs to cage-free and has already done so in the United Kingdom.
The Subway brand's new policy also includes giving purchasing preference to pork and poultry suppliers that use more humane methods of housing and slaughter, respectively. Currently, the Subway brand uses a significant amount of pork from suppliers that are phasing out the use of gestation crates to confine breeding pigs, and more than 5 percent of its turkey comes from suppliers that use "controlled-atmosphere killing," which has been shown to dramatically reduce the suffering of birds during slaughter.
"We are working with our partners at The Humane Society of the United States and our franchisee-owned Independent Purchasing Cooperative, which sources products and negotiates pricing contracts for Subway franchisees to take the steps needed to do this," Michele DiNello, director of corporate communication for the Subway brand, said in a news release. "There is much work to be done, but we are committed to conducting business in a manner consistent with accepted social practices."
Several other quick-service chains also have recently committed to sourcing cage-free eggs, including Burger King, Wendy's, Carl's Jr. and Hardee's, and most recently, Sonic. The Humane Society also is trying to influence other QSRs to adopt similar policies, going so far as becoming stockholders in brands such as Jack in the Box.
Denny's, Burger King, Wendy's, Quiznos, Sonic, IHOP, Carl's Jr., Hardee's, and Red Robin have created similar animal welfare policies, and the extreme confinement of certain farm animals in cages and crates is outlawed in seven U.S. states.
