Nestle, one of the world’s largest foodmakers, said it would require higher animal welfare standards at the hundreds of thousands of farms worldwide that supply it with dairy, meat, poultry and eggs. The new standards “now include, for example, spacing requirements for the rearing pens of certain species of animals, such as pigs and cows, to ensure they are not cramped and can engage in normal animal behaviour,” said Nestle. An independent auditor will check on compliance with the new code, reached as part of an agreement with World Animal Protection. If a farm fails to improve, Nestle said it will stop doing business with it.
“Under its new standards, Nestlé will not buy products derived from pigs raised in gestation stalls, chickens in barren battery cages, cattle that have been dehorned or had their tails docked without anesthesia and animals whose health has been damaged by drugs that promote growth,” said the New York Times. Other food companies are acting as well, said the Times. As an example, it said Burger King has said by 2015 all of its eggs will come from cage-free hens.