Fast food company demonstrates commitment to humanely raised foods by moving to eggs approved by nation's leading farm animal welfare certification program
WASHINGTON, Nov. 16, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- American Humane Association, the first national humane organization and creators of the first and largest third-party farm animal welfare certification program, American Humane Certified, praised fast food company Taco Bell for its announcement that it will switch to using only cage-free American Humane Certified™ eggs in its more than 6,000 restaurants in 2017.
"This is a great day for farm animals," said Dr. Robin Ganzert, president and CEO of American Humane Association. "We applaud Taco Bell for its leadership in helping make the fast food industry more humane by committing to animal welfare."
American Humane Association research shows overwhelming popular support for the humane treatment of farm animals and humanely raised foods. Its Humane Heartland™ Farm Animal Survey polled 5,900 Americans and more than nine in ten (94.9%) said they were "very concerned" about farm animal welfare, up from 89 percent in American Humane Association's 2013 study.
More than three-quarters (75.7%) stated that they were very willing to pay more for humanely raised eggs, meat, and dairy products, up from 74 percent in 2013. And for the second survey in a row, in a ranking of the importance of food labels, "humanely raised" scored highest, over "antibiotic-free," "organic," and "natural." Impediments to people's choosing humane products was also explored: While one-third of those surveyed (35.3%) said they did purchase humanely raised foods, more than half (54.6%) said they were either not available (35.6%) or too expensive (19%). Nearly one in ten (9%) said they did not know the difference.
American Humane Association was founded around the issue of farm animal welfare in 1877 and has been at the forefront of improvements and protections for children, pets and farm animals for 138 years (see historic timeline). With a history of working positively and collaboratively with farmers, ranchers, animal advocates and the American public to create moderate, mainstream and commonsense solutions that work for both animals and people, in 2000 American Humane Association created the nation's first third-party farm animal welfare certification and auditing program with more than 200 science-based standards covering everything from adequate space to air quality, heat and lighting, humane treatment, and the ability for animals to be animals and express the natural behaviors of their kind. These standards for the resulting American Humane Certified™ program were built upon the internationally accepted values of the Five Freedoms, created by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, as well as input from animal science experts, veterinarians and other animal husbandry specialists. These evidence-based standards are reviewed regularly by a Scientific Advisory Committee made up of some of the world's leading experts and animal advocates. Today the American Humane Certified™ program is the nation's largest third-party farm animal welfare audit program.
More information about the American Humane Certified™ program can be found at www.humaneheartland.org and the full results of the Humane Heartland Farm Animal Welfare Survey can be found here.
About American Humane Association and the American Humane Certified™ program
American Humane Association is the country's first national humane organization and the only one dedicated to protecting both children and animals. Since 1877, American Humane Association has been at the forefront of virtually every major advance in protecting our most vulnerable from cruelty, abuse and neglect. Today we're also leading the way in understanding the human-animal bond and its role in therapy, medicine and society. American Humane Association reaches millions of people every day through groundbreaking research, education, training and services that span a wide network of organizations, agencies and businesses. You can help make a difference, too. Visit American Humane Association at www.americanhumane.org today.
American Humane Association was founded in 1877 on the issue of farm animal welfare, and created the American Humane Certified™ program, the first and largest independent, third-party humane farm animal welfare certification and audit program. The more than 200 species-specific, science-based standards of the American Humane Certified program cover everything from adequate space to air quality, heat and lighting, humane treatment, and the ability of animals to express natural behaviors, and were built on the internationally accepted values of the Five Freedoms, created by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, as well as input from animal science experts, veterinarians and other animal husbandry specialists. The program's standards are reviewed regularly by a Scientific Advisory Committee made up of some of the world's leading experts and animal advocates For 138 years American Humane Association has worked positively and collaboratively with farmers, ranchers, animal advocates, and the American public as a moderate, mainstream voice to create solutions that work for animals and people.
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SOURCE American Humane Association
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