Cage eggs exit Belgian supermarkets

In the Netherlands, cage eggs left the supermarket shelves several years ago, after Albert Heijn set the example. The food processing sector is now switching to non-cage eggs, too.

The Delhaize chain (Belgium) has followed Makro, Lidl and Colruyt in replacing eggs from caged hens with barn, free-range and organic eggs. The animal welfare group Global Action in the Interest of Animals (GAIA) welcomed the move and called on the other supermarkets to follow suit.

Conventional battery cages will be outlawed by the EU in 2012, but “enriched cages”, which have certain welfare improvements and give each hen 33% more space, will be allowed.

GAIA said the supermarkets were giving egg producers a strong signal to abandon the use of both battery and enriched cages.

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