Burger King adopts human handling of animals Feedstuffs June 28, 2001 Burger King Corp. announced this morning that the company has officially adopted "industry-leading guidelines" for the humane handling of food animals and has petitioned the U.S. Department of Agriculture "to actively and fully" enforce the U.S. Humane Slaughter Act. Burger King said there will be announced and unannounced audits of livestock and poultry production facilities and slaughter plants and said those operations that do not meet standards will be "disciplined." The company said its standards are based on recommendations by its own Animal Well-being Advisory Council and standards already established by the American Meat Institute, National Chicken Council and United Egg Producers (UEP) but "in some cases will exceed" those of the trade groups. For instance, Burger King will require egg layers to be housed at 75 sq. in. per bird, whereas UEP recommends a range of 67-86 sq. in. and McDonald's Corp. requires 72 sq. in. Burger King also said it will discourage branding and wattling cattle and will encourage alternative means to handle gestating sows and will begin buying pork from producers who deploy such alternatives to tethering. Back to Main Index Page