McDonalds up for animal welfare award next week
When I heard that fast food giant McDonalds was up for an animal welfare award at the RSPCA's Good Business Awards next week, I was pretty stunned too. I decided to speak to the RSPCA's Head of External Affairs, David Bowles, for an explanation.
David provided me with some information about the UK arm of the company that shows it's been doing a lot more than painting its branches green in recent months. He first stressed that the award is only recognising the work of McDonalds in the UK, which operates very differently from its parent company in the USA, and even its branches across the Channel.
I was most surprised to hear that McDonalds UK has become the first fast food restaurant to use only free range eggs, not only for the eggs it uses in its breakfast muffins, but it also ensures that its mayonnaise and other sauces contain only free range eggs. This is more than a lot of major supermarkets and better respected restaurants have done, and despite my misgivings (and disinclination to eat at McDonald's myself!) I do have to give them credit for this policy.
Further, the chain now sources all of its pork products from non-intensive pig farms. This follows praise for the chain's treatment of cattle back in 2005, and is a far cry from what I'd imagined to be the case.
Earlier in the year, McDonalds also finally gave in to pleas from animal activists to change the shape of its plastic McFlurry containers, which when discarded, were the right shape and size to make a sugary grave for hedgehogs. The company re-designed the containers, which have now been declared fully hedgehog friendly. I look forward to seeing how the awards play out when they are announced next Thursday.
