FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION ANNOUNCES END TO MISLEADING EGG LOGO
Wegmans Food Markets Must Remove “Animal Care Certified” Seal
Rochester, NY (October 3, 2005) – 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 misle consumers concerned about animal cruelty. All Wegmans Food Markets-brand eggs are currently stamped with this deceptive logo.
The "Animal Care Certified" logo first came under scrutiny in June 2003, when Washington, DC-based 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."
Recently Compassionate Consumers led an investigation at Wegmans Egg Farm in Wolcott, NY, where the group found widespread evidence of egregious cruelty to animals. Investigators found hens covered with feces and open sores, birds forced to sleep atop decomposed corpses, beak mutilations, and hens drowning in liquid manure. Their 27-minute documentary "Wegmans Cruelty" contains video footage of their findings.
Compassionate Consumers is asking that Wegmans Egg Farm cease the cruel use of battery cages and go cage-free. Last month the University of Rochester decided to stop the use of battery cage eggs in foods prepared on campus. Danny Wegman, CEO of Wegmans Food Markets, is a Senior Trustee at UR.
Compassionate Consumers is a Rochester-based organization dedicated to providing the public with information about the treatment of animals on farms and at slaughter. The group is calling for a boycott of battery cage eggs. For more information visit: www.WegmansCruelty.com
Contact:
Ryan Merkley, 585-410-0773, ryan@compassionateconsumers.org
Wegmans Food Markets Must Remove “Animal Care Certified” Seal
Rochester, NY (October 3, 2005) – 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 misle consumers concerned about animal cruelty. All Wegmans Food Markets-brand eggs are currently stamped with this deceptive logo.
The "Animal Care Certified" logo first came under scrutiny in June 2003, when Washington, DC-based 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."
Recently Compassionate Consumers led an investigation at Wegmans Egg Farm in Wolcott, NY, where the group found widespread evidence of egregious cruelty to animals. Investigators found hens covered with feces and open sores, birds forced to sleep atop decomposed corpses, beak mutilations, and hens drowning in liquid manure. Their 27-minute documentary "Wegmans Cruelty" contains video footage of their findings.
Compassionate Consumers is asking that Wegmans Egg Farm cease the cruel use of battery cages and go cage-free. Last month the University of Rochester decided to stop the use of battery cage eggs in foods prepared on campus. Danny Wegman, CEO of Wegmans Food Markets, is a Senior Trustee at UR.
Compassionate Consumers is a Rochester-based organization dedicated to providing the public with information about the treatment of animals on farms and at slaughter. The group is calling for a boycott of battery cage eggs. For more information visit: www.WegmansCruelty.com
Contact:
Ryan Merkley, 585-410-0773, ryan@compassionateconsumers.org
posted by a compassionate consumer @ 7:25 PM
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