Taco Bell Switching to 'Cage-free' Eggs by 2017

Taco Bell is the latest fast-food chain to announce its switch to cage-free eggs. The fast-food chain may become the first big chain to completely go cage-free. This is because it plans to implement the use of cage-free eggs in all of its 6000 restaurants throughout the United States by the end of 2016, reports The Washington Post. The announcement is definitely impressive, as no other company has promised to completely switch to cage-free eggs in less than five years.

"Implementing this change at record pace underscores that we are always listening and responding to our customers, while doing what is right for our business," said Brian Niccol, chief executive of Taco Bell Corp.

Improving supply chains in an attempt to offer healthier and more sustainable ingredients has become a popular trend.  "Ingredient transparency is more important than ever to the next generation of Taco Bell customers," said Taco Bell executive Liz Matthews, according to CNN.

Leah Garces, the U.S. director of an animal rights group called Compassion in World Farming, stated that Taco Bell's announcement "is enormous news". "Especially given the timeline, which will be the fastest yet," she added.

Taco Bell's decision to go cage-free could boost the cage-free egg industry, especially since it sells around a million and a half eggs annually. According to estimates by the Humane Society of the United States, the lives of over 500,000 hens will be improved by the switch.

The fast-food chain's strong commitment to going cage-free followed similar announcements made by other fast-food chains.

As CNN reports, McDonald's said in September that it will be switching to cage-free eggs in the course of 10 years. In 2012, Burger King promised to use cage-free eggs within five years. Moreover, food companies, such as Kellogg and General Mills, have committed to switching to eggs from hens who live in wide spaces.

Before Taco Bell's announcement, the fast-food chain received huge criticism because of its refusal to switch to cage-free eggs. Just this month, an article by The Washing Post talked about Taco Bell's silence on animal welfare. A petition was filed on Change.org pleading for the chain to use cage-free eggs. The petition gathered over 166,000 signatures.

Currently, the question is how the fast-food chain will manage to change its egg supply by the end of 2016. The Washington Post says that Taco Bell's key to making this happen is its "large yet flexible infrastructure". However, they did not say anything about whether or not the change will cause an increase in prices.