Bakery-cafe chain Panera Bread Co is joining the cage-free egg bandwagon, following McDonald's and Starbucks. The company pledged that their ingredients to be 100 percent cage-free eggs by 2020.
According to Reuters, the company's commitment comes as major U.S. restaurant companies are switching to meat and eggs from animals that are raised cage free and fed fewer antibiotics.
Panera "is demonstrating that social responsibility goes hand-in-hand with being a successful national restaurant brand," a senior food policy director for the Human Society said in a statement.
The new rule will take effect on its 2,000 Panera Bread and St. Louis Bread Co. stores in the U.S. - that will apply to shell eggs, hardboiled and liquid egg whites and eggs used in their pastries, soufflés and dressings. At present, Panera is now using 21 percent cage-free eggs, a 3 percent improvement from 2014 across its stores.
Panera also said the hens that lay the shell and hard boiled eggs it serves never receive antibiotics and are fed an all-vegetarian diet.
Chicago Tribune reports that 100 percent of Panera's roasted turkey in sandwiches and salads will be raised without antibiotics by the end of this year. "Roasted turkey accounts for one-third of all turkey used in its stores. Panera already reached that threshold with chicken last year, and at that time sold most turkey without antibiotics."
It will also phase out all pigs in its supply that were raised with "gestation crates" described with tight metal pens used commonly on factory farms to confine sows at the end of this year.
Panera CEO Ron Shaich said in a statement that the company has been an advocate of a no antibiotic use in its supplies for more than a decade.
"While there is more work to do, we are within reach of a menu without antibiotics and unnecessary confinement," he said in a statement.
