Egg Logo About to Change

This just in: the United Egg Producer's "Animal Care Certified" logo will no longer be used on egg cartons in the U.S. because, well, it's misleading to suggest that the animals are, um, cared for.

It's the "care" part that was the sticking point.

Keeping them in cage so small that they can't turn around or flap their wings, and trimming off their peaks, and all sorts of horrors I won't recite because this is a family blog, just seemed a little, well, uncaring, even to federal regulators.

The egg industry puts it this way in their press release:

"The egg industry's new seal whichassures consumers that the eggs they are purchasing came from hens that were properly cared for under scientifically-based animal husbandry guidelines has won approval from federal regulators, the United Egg Producers (UEP) announced today.

The Federal Trade Commission and the U.S. Department of Agriculture have approved the new seal, which is slightly revised from the one introduced in 2002 when the program began. The seal is the same size and shape as the original one, but the words have been changed from "Animal Care Certified" to "United Egg Producers Certified." Under the seal is the tagline: "Produced in compliance with United Egg Producers' Animal Husbandry Guidelines."

And an advocacy organization called Compassion over Killing had a slightly different take in their press release:

"The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has announced that the United Egg Producers' (UEP) "Animal Care Certified" logo will no longer be stamped on egg cartons nationwide. This decision ends the egg industry's three-year national advertising campaign that misled consumers concerned about animal cruelty.

The "Animal Care Certified" logo first came under scrutiny in June 2003, when Compassion Over Killing filed petitions with the Better Business Bureau (BBB) and the FTC, as well as other federal agencies, asserting that the logo is misleading. Under the "Animal Care Certified" guidelines, egg producers are permitted to intensively confine hens in "battery cages" so small they can't even spread their wings, among other abuses.

In 2003, and again upon appeal in 2004, the BBB deemed the "Animal Care Certified" logo misleading because it implied a greater level of humane care than is actually the case. Despite these rulings and the BBB's subsequent referral of the matter to FTC for potential legal action against the UEP, the logo continued to appear on cartons across the country-and consumers continued to be deceived.

According to the FTC, by March 31, 2006, the "Animal Care Certified" logo will be gone from grocery store shelves, and consumers can expect to find it replaced with an alternative logo reading "United Egg Producers Certified."

Follow the Eggscam link below to find out more about it, and also check out United Poultry Concerns.

EggScam.com - Exposing "Animal Care Certified" eggs