DES MOINES, IOWA BBB forces egg producers to remove claim

The egg group is appealing, insisting its treatment of chickens is humane.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) -- The Better Business Bureau has said egg producers should stop advertising humane treatment of hens under guidelines that allow practices such as forced molting and clipping of beaks.
United Egg Producers, an industry trade group based in Atlanta, developed the logo on cartons claiming the eggs to be "Animal Care Certified." The group said it awards the logo based on scientific standards developed by a group of independent experts.
However, evidence presented to a division of the Better Business Bureau by a small Washington-based animal-rights group raised concerns about accuracy.
"Consumers concerned about the treatment of animals may purchase eggs in cartons bearing the seal under the misimpression that the hens that laid the eggs were treated to higher levels of care than is actually the case," stated the report released by the bureau's National Advertising Division.
Compliance with the division's recommendations are voluntary, but groups that refuse to do so are often referred to federal agencies like the Federal Trade Commission or the Food and Drug Administration.
United Egg Producers appealed the recommendation.
"When all the facts come out, then consumers and retailers will agree that the Animal Care Certified logo represents a scientifically proven, humane method for producing eggs," Ken Klippen, vice president for government relations, said Tuesday from his office in Washington.
Animal-rights complaints
The decision was prompted by a complaint from Compassion Over Killing, a small Washington, D.C.-based animal-rights group that focuses on agricultural producers.
The group admits the standards adopted by the egg producers are slowly improving treatment of hens -- but not to levels that ordinary consumers would consider humane treatment of animals.
"You know, if there's anything that is even worse than animal abuse, it's when people lie and mislead and deceive about animal abuse," said Paul Shapiro, the group's campaigns director, who compared his group's victory to the biblical story of David and Goliath.
The guidelines adopted by the egg industry require producers to increase cage sizes from the current standard of 48 square inches to 67 square inches by 2008, among other things.
Shapiro said a cage needs to be at least four times larger than that in order for a hen to flap its wings. The guidelines also allow producers to continue practices such as clipping beaks and forced molting, which involves depriving hens of food to speed up the shedding of feathers and return them to egg production as quickly as possible.
"These birds never see sunlight, they never flap their wings, they never even take a single step outside," Shapiro said.