Reuters — General Mills will use only cage-free eggs in its U.S. operations by 2025, it said on Tuesday, marking the first time the packaged food company has given a timeline for the switch. The maker of products including Betty Crocker cake mixes, Pillsbury baked goods and Cheerios cereal said in July it was working […] Read more

General Mills to use only cage-free eggs in U.S. by 2025

Taco Bell to switch to cage-free eggs after 2016, ahead of rivals
Los Angeles | Reuters — Taco Bell said on Monday its more than 6,000 U.S. fast-food restaurants would stop using eggs laid by caged hens by Jan. 1, 2017, years ahead of the deadlines set by its bigger rivals. The announcement came amid mounting pressure on Taco Bell to remove artificial ingredients, to source products […] Read more

Egg-laying barn produces as much energy as it uses
Brant Colony’s new barn will also be a learning project about ‘what it takes to get to net zero’
Reading Time: 3 minutes A new egg-laying barn currently under construction at the Brant Colony in Vulcan County will be the first such ‘net-zero’ facility in the province. “The thought was that if we had a barn designed from scratch and we put all these different things in it, we could get to the point where the energy inputs […] Read more

McDonald’s Canada to tighten antibiotic policy for chicken
Following its U.S. arm’s move this spring, McDonald’s now plans to source only chicken raised without medically important antibiotics for its restaurants in Canada by the end of 2018. And Canada’s chicken producer group says the Canadian chain’s move dovetails with a direction the Canadian industry was headed already. “McDonald’s believes antibiotics have important benefits, […] Read more

Subway shifting all U.S. meat supplies to no antibiotics, ever
Chicago | Reuters –– Sandwich chain Subway will start serving antibiotic-free chicken and turkey at its U.S. restaurants next year, and within the next nine years will stop selling any meat from animals given antibiotics, the company said Tuesday. Rivals such as Chipotle Mexican Grill and McDonald’s have announced similar supply-chain shifts, adding pressure on […] Read more

Fall migration brings threat of avian flu
Reading Time: < 1 minute Small flock producers are being warned to be on guard against avian influenza during the fall migration of ducks and geese, which can carry the contagious viral disease. Put a wire on top of pens to prevent direct contact, treat dugout water, and watch for signs of infection, said Dr. Colleen Christianson, a provincial veterinary […] Read more

TPP not the death of supply management, N.Z. trade chief says
Hamilton, N.Z. | MCO — Canada’s supply-managed sectors should not worry about the Trans-Pacific Partnership, from where New Zealand’s Trade Minister Tim Groser sits. “I can understand why producer groups would wish to perceive this in a different way, but this is not the end of supply management,” he said here Thursday. “I don’t think […] Read more

Van Camp: Olive branches offered through new gaps in tariff wall
What do you get when you mix milk and eggs with a looming election? A “free” trade deal that gained major market access in Asia for Canada, but managed to keeps the tariffs for Canada’s supply-managed commodities. After all the barking from New Zealand, cows parading on Parliament Hill, tweets, heart-wrenching videos on Facebook, election […] Read more

Canada now avian flu-free
With no new cases in poultry since April and no farms in quarantine since July, Canada has officially declared itself free of avian influenza. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency said Thursday it has informed the World Organization of Animal Health (OIE) that Ontario is free of notifiable avian flu. No new outbreaks of highly pathogenic […] Read more

Clinton says she doesn’t support new TPP deal
Reuters — U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton said Wednesday she does not support the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), rejecting a central tenet of President Barack Obama’s strategic pivot to Asia. Clinton said during a campaign swing in Iowa that she is worried about currency manipulation not being part of the agreement and that “pharmaceutical […] Read more