The Humane Society of the United States filed a lawsuit in the District of Columbia against the United Egg Producers, the nation's largest egg industry trade association, and two major egg companies for engaging in false and deceptive advertising to mislead consumers about the deplorable conditions they force egg-laying hens to endure on factory farms.
The lawsuit alleges that advertising by UEP and two of the nation's largest egg producers, MoArk, LLC, and R.W. Sauder, Inc., is duping consumers who care about animal welfare into buying eggs bearing the "United Egg Producers Certified" logo. While UEP misleadingly touts that its certification program is an "animal welfare" program, it permits factory farmers to confine hens in restrictive, barren cages in which they can't perform many of their natural behaviors, including perching, nesting, foraging or even spreading their wings.
"The egg factory farms know consumers don't want hens confined in tiny cages where they can barely move for their entire lives, but rather than changing their ways, they've just changed their ad campaigns," said Jonathan Lovvorn, vice president and chief counsel of Animal Protection Litigation at The HSUS. "This industry is telling consumers what they want to hear, but behind the scenes, millions of birds are suffering some of the worst factory farm abuses imaginable."
UEP has a history of deceiving consumers about animal welfare. In 2003, the Better Business Bureau ruled that UEP's advertising related to animal welfare was misleading, and in 2006, UEP paid $100,000 to settle false advertising claims by attorneys general of 16 states and the District of Columbia.
The lawsuit
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