More filth, cruelty and discrimination from Ahold
A third shocking investigation into Ahold’s global egg suppliers
Do you shop at Albert Heijn or other stores owned by Ahold Delhaize? If so, you may want to think again. For the third time in eighteen months, a shocking investigation released by Equitas reveals food safety risks, discrimination against Asian customers, and extreme animal cruelty behind the eggs sold by Ahold.
Sumber Rejiki farm and CV Bumi Ayu Sejati farm are major egg suppliers to Ahold in Indonesia. At these farms, feces and dirt are caked on the bars of cages where eggs are laid, and feces pile up just inches away from eggs and from the birds themselves. Mother hens are crammed for nearly their entire lives in battery cages so small and cruel they are illegal in dozens of countries around the world, including in the Netherlands. Wild birds were found to be coming in and out of the farm, causing a serious risk of spreading avian influenza.
Ahold has committed to selling only cage-free eggs—which are far safer, higher quality and more humane—in Europe and North America. But Ahold seems to think Asian customers don’t deserve the same quality of food, and that animal welfare doesn’t matter when it comes to their supply chain in Asia. Nearly every other leading international retailer that operates in Asia, including Tesco, METRO, Aldi, Marks & Spencer, CarreFour and Auchan, have made 100% cage-free egg commitments in Asia. But not Ahold. Ahold continues to sell eggs from filthy and cruel battery caged-egg farms with no commitment to change with a timeline.
It’s time for Ahold to stop supporting this severe animal cruelty, and stop discriminating against Asian customers. It’s time for Ahold to catch up with other global retailers and set a timeline for selling only cage-free eggs in Asia.
Please sign the petition！
Ahold: I won’t shop at your stores again until you set a timeline to stop selling eggs from hens packed in dirty, cruel cages. It’s time for Ahold to go 100% cage-free！
Food Safety Risks Of Caged Eggs
Over a dozen scientific studies have found that caged egg farms have dramatically higher rates of salmonella contamination. The European Food Safety Authority conducted the largest study ever on the issue, analysing data from five thousand farms. It found that caged egg farms are 25 times more likely to be contaminated with key salmonella strains. (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
There are numerous reasons why packing hens in cages causes food safety risks. Research by the United States Department of Agriculture shows the stress of cage confinement makes hens more vulnerable to disease. Cages are also hard to clean and disinfect, leading to “a larger volume of contaminated fecal material and dust.” (18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
Caged Eggs Are Cruel
Just like dogs and cats, chickens are smart, intelligent individuals that feel pleasure and pain. Packing an animal for nearly her entire life in a cage so small she can barely turn around is simply wrong. (24)
Battery cages are so cruel they have been banned in dozens of countries around the world. Every mainstream animal protection organisation around the world condemns battery cages as cruel and inhumane. (25, 26, 27)
Here is what just a few such organisations have said:
“The RSPCA is calling for all cage systems to be banned…and for laying hens to be kept in well-managed alternative systems.”
Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
“Hens in cages are more prone to stress and injury, and an increased risk of salmonella.”
World Animal Protection
“Intensive farm animal confinement is barbaric and out of line with contemporary values.”
American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
These organisations are not associated with this website
Battery Cages
Ahold continues to sell eggs from farms that confine hens in cruel and dirty battery cages
Dirty
At farms of this Ahold egg supplier, feces is piled high on the cages and equipment
Cruel
Each mother hen spends nearly her entire life packed in a cage so small she can barely turn around
Downloads and Documentation
All video clips and photos on this site are in the public domain and can be downloaded and used freely by anyone, including the media.
All videos and photos on this site are from Sumber Rejiki farm and CV Bumi Ayu Sejati farm, which supply eggs to Ahold’s SuperIndo grocery stores in Indonesia.
Documentation that the footage was taken at this supplier’s farm, and that eggs from this supplier are sold at SuperIndo stores, is available online here.
Equitas is a global non-profit consumer and animal protection organisation based in the UK.
Citations on the food safety risks and animal cruelty of battery cages
1: Van Hoorebeke S, Van Immerseel F, Schulz J, et al. 2010. Determination of the within and between flock prevalence and identification of risk factors for Salmonella infections in laying hen flocks housed in conventional and alternative systems. Preventive Veterinary Medicine 94(1-2):94-100.
2: Snow LC, Davies RH, Christiansen KH, et al. 2010. Investigation of risk factors for Salmonella on commercial egg-laying farms in Great Britain, 2004-2005. Veterinary Record 166(19):579-86.
3: 2010. Annual Report on Zoonoses in Denmark 2009. National Food Institute, Technical University of Denmark.
4: Van Hoorebeke S, Van Immerseel F, De Vylder J et al. 2010. The age of production system and previous Salmonella infections on farm are risk factors for low-level Salmonella infections in laying hen flocks. Poultry Science 89:1315-1319.
5: Huneau-Salaün A, Chemaly M, Le Bouquin S, et al. 2009. Risk factors for Salmonella enterica subsp. Enteric contamination in 5 French laying hen flocks at the end of the laying period. Preventative Veterinary Medicine 89:51-8.
6: Green AR, Wesley I, Trampel DW, et al. 2009 Air quality and bird health status in three types of commercial egg layer houses. Journal of Applied Poultry Research 18:605-621.
7: Schulz J, Luecking G, Dewulf J, Hartung J. 2009. Prevalence of Salmonella in German battery cages and alternative housing systems. 14th International congress of the International Society for Animal Hygiene: Sustainable animal husbandry : prevention is better than cure. pp. 699-702. http://www.safehouse-project.eu/vars/fichiers/pub_defaut/Schulz_Salmonella_ISAH%202009.ppt.
8: Namata H, Méroc E, Aerts M, et al. 2008. Salmonella in Belgian laying hens: an identification of risk factors. Preventive Veterinary Medicine 83(3-4):323-36.
9: Mahé A, Bougeard S, Huneau-Salaün A, et al. 2008. Bayesian estimation of flock-level sensitivity of detection of Salmonella spp. Enteritidis and Typhimurium according to the sampling procedure in French laying-hen houses. Preventive Veterinary Medicine 84(1-2):11-26.
10: Pieskus J, et al. 2008. Salmonella incidence in broiler and laying hens with the different housing systems. Journal of Poultry Science 45:227-231.
11: European Food Safety Authority. 2007. Report of the Task Force on Zoonoses Data Collection on the Analysis of the baseline study on the prevalence of Salmonella in holdings of laying hen flocks of Gallus gallus. The EFSA Journal 97. www.efsa.europa.eu/EFSA/efsa_locale-1178620753812_1178620761896.htm.
12: Snow LC, Davies RH, Christiansen KH, et al. 2007. Survey of the prevalence of Salmonella species on commercial laying farms in the United Kingdom. The Veterinary Record 161(14):471-6.
13: Methner U, Diller R, Reiche R, and Böhland K. 2006. [Occurence of salmonellae in laying hens in different housing systems and inferences for control]. Berliner und Münchener tierärztliche Wochenschrift 119(11-12):467-73.
14: Much P, Österreicher E, Lassnig. H. 2007. Results of the EU-wide Baseline Study on the Prevalence of Salmonella spp. in Holdings of Laying Hens in Austria. Archiv für Lebensmittelhygiene 58:225-229.
15: Stepien-Pysniak D. 2010. Occurrence of Gram-negative bacteria in hens’ eggs depending on their source and storage conditions. Polish Journal of Veterinary Sciences 13(3):507-13.
16: Humane Society International, “An HSI Report: Food Safety and Cage Egg Production” (2010). HSI Reports: Farm Animal Protection. 3. http://animalstudiesrepository.org/hsi_reps_fap/3
17: European Food Safety Authority. 2007. Report of the Task Force on Zoonoses Data Collection on the Analysis of the baseline study on the prevalence of Salmonella in holdings of laying hen flocks of Gallus gallus. The EFSA Journal 97. www.efsa.europa.eu/EFSA/efsa_locale-1178620753812_1178620761896.htm
18: The Danish Veterinary and Food Administration. 2004. The national Salmonella control programme for the production of table eggs and broilers 1996-2002. Fødevare Rapport 6, March.
19: Davies R and Breslin M. 2003. Observations on Salmonella contamination of commercial laying farms before and after cleaning and disinfection. The Veterinary Record 152(10):283-7.
20: Methner U, Rabsch W, Reissbrodt R, and Williams PH. 2008. Effect of norepinephrine on colonisation and systemic spread of Salmonella enterica in infected animals: Role of catecholate siderophore precursors and degradation products. International Journal of Medical Microbiology 298(5-6):429-39.
21: Bailey MT, Karaszewski JW, Lubach GR, Coe CL, and Lyte M. 1999. In vivo adaptation of attenuated Salmonella Typhimurium results in increased growth upon exposure to norepinephrine. Physiology and Behavior 67(3):359-64.
22: Shini S, Kaiser P, Shini A, and Bryden WL. 2008. Biological response of chickens (Gallus gallus domesticus) induced by corticosterone and a bacterial endotoxin. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology. Part B. 149(2):324-33.
23: Rostagno MH. 2009. Can stress in farm animals increase food safety risk? Foodborne Pathogens and Disease 6(7):767-76.
24: Marino, L. 2017. Thinking chickens: a review of cognition, emotion, and behavior in the domestic chicken. Animal Cognition 20(2): 127–147.
25: “European_Union_Council_Directive_1999/74/EC.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. Web 03 August 2018, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Union_Council_Directive_1999/74/EC
26: “Farm Animal Confinement Bans.” American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Web. 03 August 2018, www.aspca.org/animal-protection/public-policy/farm-animal-confinement-bans
27: World Organization for Animal Health, “Terrestrial Animal Health Code” (2017). www.rr-africa.oie.int/docspdf/en/Codes/en_csat-vol1.pdf