British supermarket bans 'battery eggs'

Sainsbury’s is the first of the four big UK supermarkets to ban eggs from battery hens. It will remove "battery eggs" from all its 790 stores by February 5.

Other supermarkets, Marks and Spencer, Waitrose and the Co-Op have already stopped selling battery eggs but Sainsbury’s is the biggest retailer to take this action. Welfare campaigners have welcomed this move and are now urging Sainsbury’s rivals Tesco, Morrisons and Asda to follow in its example. Compassion in World Farming spokesman, Ross West-Henzell told The Telegraph: “The scale of this move is breathtaking. Battery cages confine hens to small wire cages, which prohibit natural behaviours. We’ve worked closely with the Sainsbury’s team. “What stands out is their dedicated hard work and genuine commitment to continuously improving life for all farm animals in their supply chain. “Let this be an example to the other big four UK supermarkets.” Animal welfare campaigners say that caged hens have no perch or litter to peck, cannot move properly and have no space to flag their wings. Whilst free range hens, which are kept indoors have access to open fields making them healthier as they can move freely and display their natural behaviour. Sainsbury’s will replace battery eggs with free range eggs which currently make up 27% of the UK market and barn eggs will make up just 7% of the market. Free range eggs cost on average 94 pence more (for a dozen eggs) than battery eggs but currently 63.3% of all UK eggs still come from the estimated 18.6 million hens held in cages. More and more consumers are willing to pay the extra for free range eggs but Tesco and Asda continue to stock own-label caged eggs. Morrisons still offers branded versions but has promised to stop selling them under its own label.