Burger King To Serve Up Cage-Free Food

Fast-Food Restaurant's Move Wins Praise From Animal Rights Group

(AP)  Animal rights advocates have praised Burger King for its new commitment to begin buying eggs and pork from suppliers that do not keep their animals in cages or crates.

"We certainly hope that people will order the BK Veggie Burger when they go into Burger King," said Matt Prescott, spokesman for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. "But the fact that Burger King has made positive changes for some of the animals killed for its restaurants will send a ripple effect through the fast food industry and show other companies that animal welfare cannot be ignored."

PETA has been critical of the fast food giant in the past.

Burger King Corp. product safety manager Steve Weiffenbach sent PETA two letters, dated March 14 and 20, outlining the company's new supply guidelines. PETA forwarded copies of the letters to The Associated Press.

The fast food chain has already started purchasing 10 percent of its pork from suppliers that do not use sow gestation crates, according to the letter. The company said it will double that amount by the end of 2007.

Burger King also said it will start getting 2 percent of its eggs from hens that are not confined to small cages. That percentage should more than double by the end of 2007.

"That is a huge portion of cage-free eggs available for processing as most cage-free eggs go into the retail grocery business," Weiffenbach wrote in his March 14 letter.

Hoping to pressure suppliers and increase availability, Burger King has told egg suppliers that it will look favorably on cage-free eggs when making purchasing decisions.

"Suppliers will hopefully respond by producing more of these types of products," Prescott said.

Burger King will also give purchasing preference to poultry suppliers that use or switch to "controlled atmosphere stunning," which animal rights groups consider the most humane way to slaughter poultry.

[cjhr43]

Whats next... protecting vegetables??? It really must hurt those poor tomatoes when they are sliced... and ouch!!! Don't roast those peppers... especially fresh from the garden. And what about those poor garden insects??? Not only are we stealing their food we are POISONING them too. Cheeeeez!!!! where does this stuff stop???

[randalds]

who cares. As long as the chicken tastes good when it hits my plate I don't care how it was killed or whether it was raised free range or not. This is an animal on the bottom of the food chain.
Posted by karateman39 at 08:38 AM : Mar 29, 2007

Exactly. By the time it's on my plate it's no longer a cow, or a chicken, or a duck, or whatever. It's food.

[karateman39]

who cares. As long as the chicken tastes good when it hits my plate I don't care how it was killed or whether it was raised free range or not. This is an animal on the bottom of the food chain.

[randalds]

As for PETAs tactics--read the article: education, letter writing, public awareness. Hardly terrorist stuff unless you regard education as dangerous.
Posted by andor3 at 06:28 PM : Mar 28, 2007

I'm not talking about PETA itself. As a front organization they appear just the way they're supposed to appear. I'm talking about their association with and unqualified support of militant terroristic animal rights organizations who have been responsible for bombings, arson and even murder as a result of some of these attacks of animal research laboratories. PETA likes o put on like they're just about education and awareness, but they're no different then a non-violent political wing of domestic terrorism groups such as the Animal Liberation Front.

[jolsonbear]

And what is the cost of this new "free Range" policy......look at the poster behind the happy woman eating......a $32.00 burger! Thanks PETA.

[andor3]

It's all about choices and being responsible. You can choose to eat meat or not. If you do eat meat, you can choose free-range or not. Whatever you choose to buy, you vote with your dollars to support your choice.

Choices have consequences. BK isn't doing this to be nice, they are doing it because they want to attract customers who understand the benefits of eating "happier" animals--they make more healthful food and are a wiser choice. Those points are backed by indisputable research: animals raised in more natural settings have less stress, less hormones, are healthier; caged and over-confined animals are weak, have more fat, and require hormones and antibiotics just to survive.

As for PETAs tactics--read the article: education, letter writing, public awareness. Hardly terrorist stuff unless you regard education as dangerous.

[smb221]

OK, so let's kill these animals and have some good cooking... but not if it's been confined to cage!


WHAT?!!?!?

[randalds]

PETA is not about raising awareness. They are a militant animal rights front group who support other organizations who commit violent acts in the name of their twisted view of what animals rights are really about. The organization's they support are nothing less then terrorists organizations who have bombed research centers and have killed people in their sick overzealousness.

[andor3]

This is very good news. PETA has always been about raising awareness that we all make choices when we eat. It comes down to taking responsibility for the consequences of your actions. PETA sometimes acts extreme to wake people up to the fact they have options.

Not everyone likes being awakened, living responsibly, or having their public actions scrutinized.

A society that cannot survive without cruelty to animals is a failure.

[randalds]

If you are going to eat meat, let it be cruelty-free. You can have your burgers, and the animals don't experiance a living ****. Is that too much to ask America for?
Posted by imaok1 at 02:57 PM : Mar 28, 2007

My point is that it doesn't much matter how they got to the plate. At that point they're just food. They're not a free-range anything. They're chicken or a steak or a hamburger or whatever. this "cruelty-free" or "free range" cr*ap is just the first step toward banning meat eating altogether and even it's supporters, like PETA, say so. The ultimate goal is to legally require people to be vegan, by outlawing meat eating. I, for one, will not give up my beef or chicken or even my Foie Gras.