Whether cookies, pasta or mayonnaise, many food products contain eggs. Often, these eggs come from battery farms where layer hens live cooped up in small cages. Although the majority of consumers are opposed to battery farming and almost all retailers have removed fresh cage eggs from their shelves, we are unknowingly still eating eggs produced in cages. So while stopping the sale of fresh cage eggs in supermarkets signaled an important victory for animal welfare, this has been just the first step.

While Australia is finally moving away from battery caged farming, 2036 is still a long way off. As part of the Australian Alliance for Animals, we are advocating for states and territories to speed up the phase out for the welfare of millions of layer hens in Australia.

FOUR PAWS advocates for the end of all cage systems for laying hens. We call on food manufacturers to change their procurement policies and refrain from using caged eggs in their products. Retailers should also stop the sale of food products containing caged eggs. Instead, we urge the processed food industry to shift to using eggs exclusively from free-range farms and shift from the overall use of eggs in their products whenever possible.