Ad group says egg logo misleading

DES MOINES, Iowa -- 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 recently from his office in Washington.

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.

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 Tuesday.

Jeff Armstrong, the dean of Natural Resources and Agriculture at Michigan State University, led the panel that set the egg industry's guidelines. He said they were based on solid scientific evidence and that they have led to more humane treatment of hens.

"The United Egg Producers are leaders in the industry for their use of these guidelines," Armstrong said. "Will there be people who believe the guidelines went too far, or not far enough? Absolutely. But to discredit their logo is a mistake, I think."

Klippen said the Better Business Bureau was swayed by the opinions of Compassion Over Killing, which he called a radical group committed to ending the consumption of eggs entirely.

Andrea Levine, director of the BBB's National Advertising Division, said the decision had little to do with animal rights. "Our goal is to ensure the advertising is truthful and accurate, and that's all," she said.

Iowa ranks No. 1 in the nation in egg production. In 2001, the state produced 7.55 billion eggs from 37.8 million chickens for cash receipts of $241 million.

------

On the Net:

United Egg Producers: http://www.unitedegg.org/

Compassion Over Killing: http://www.cok.net/

National Advertising Division: http://www.nadreview.org/