Eggland’s Best Sued Over Free-Roaming Claims

Two Illinois consumers just sued Eggland’s Best for misrepresenting the pleasant and leisurely life its hens that lay cage free eggs supposedly experience.

The company claims inside every carton of its cage free eggs:

That says “every hen is free to roam in a pleasant natural environment…” This conjures up images of hens freely taking a leisurely stroll through a lush pasture.

Of course, nothing could be further from the truth.

*MOUSE PRINT:

The lawsuit alleges:

The truth is that many hens producing Cage Free eggs live in typical factory farming conditions. They are confined indoors 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. They live in windowless structures made of concrete, metal, and dirt. The structures contain hundreds of thousands of hens packed so closely together that each bird has around one square foot of floor space (or less) to itself, and many hens living in these structures never see the sun or breathe fresh air.

2009 photo of an Eggland’s Best supplier

After the lawsuit was filed, the company appears to have modified how they describe the “pleasant natural environment” in which the hens live:

*MOUSE PRINT:

In their legal case, the lawyers contend that these consumers paid a premium for Eggland’s Best eggs compared to conventional ones, expecting the hens to be humanely treated in the conditions described on the carton. They further contend they would not have paid extra or purchased these eggs at all if they knew the actual conditions where the eggs were harvested. They are suing the company for misrepresentation and deceptive business practices.