On Thursday, Panera became the latest fast-food chain to announce its plan to use only cage-free eggs. The commitment, which the company will carry out by 2020, is quickly becoming an industry-wide standard: McDonald's, Burger King, Dunkin' Donuts, Starbucks and many others have made similar announcements.
But cage-free eggs, which come from hens that are free to move and lay eggs in nests, are hardly the only promise fast food companies are making these days. Raising chickens without antibiotics, which Panera made a priority more than 10 years ago, is something many others are now offering or working toward achieving. Efforts to end the confinement of pigs and cattle are becoming more popular, too.
The reality is that animal welfare, broadly speaking, has become something that people care about, and companies have moved to honor. It's something you have to do, or at least have to seem to want to do, if you want to woo customers.
That is, unless you are Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, or KFC...
