The first Food Industry Scorecard is the result of a year-long audit of the nation's largest food companies to see what animal welfare promises they made, kept and broke

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Mar 10, 2020, 06:10 ET

WASHINGTON, March 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Today the Humane Society of the United States released its first Food Industry Scorecard, a year-long audit that examined nearly 100 of the nation's largest food companies' progress toward reducing animal suffering in their supply chains. The report includes a company ranking and detailed analyses of what each company promised and what they are actually doing to mitigate or eliminate cruel practices that compromise animal welfare in their supply chains.

The initiative follows hundreds of public pledges by America's top food companies to make animal welfare reforms. Their promises – responding to consumer concerns about factory farming – have focused on improvements for chickens in the poultry supply and eliminating the cruelest products, such as eggs produced by locking chickens in tiny cages and pork produced by confining mother pigs in gestation crates.

Josh Balk, vice president of farm animal protection, the Humane Society of the United States, said, "People are concerned about the treatment of animals in the food supply and want to know whether companies are keeping their promises. Many of the companies evaluated are indeed making substantial strides toward implementing the promised changes, while others are showing no progress, have weakened their commitments or have abandoned their animal welfare promises entirely."

Whole Foods Market, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Bon Appetit Management Co. and Unilever all earned an A+ grade for the robust animal welfare policies they either fully or substantially implemented. At the other end of the spectrum, numerous companies earned failing grades – including McDonald's, Wendy's, Starbucks, Walmart and Tyson Foods.

"The companies working hard to reduce animal suffering are doing the right thing and we applaud their actions," added Block. "To the companies failing to make or keep animal welfare promises, we will work vigorously to hold you accountable."

The complete Food Industry Scorecard can be found here.

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Founded in 1954, the Humane Society of the United States and its affiliates around the globe fight the big fights to end suffering for all animals. Together with millions of supporters, the HSUS takes on puppy mills, factory farms, trophy hunts, animal testing and other cruel industries, and together with its affiliates, rescues and provides direct care for over 100,000 animals every year. The HSUS works on reforming corporate policy, improving and enforcing laws and elevating public awareness on animal issues. More at humanesociety.org.  

Subscribe to Kitty Block's blog, A Humane World. Follow the HSUS Media Relations department on Twitter. Read the award-winning All Animals magazine. Listen to the Humane Voices Podcast.

SOURCE Humane Society of the United States