Battery hens’ eggs are off the menu

Feb 13 2008 by Laura Sharpe, Liverpool Daily Post

EGGS from battery reared hens have been banned from schools and council buildings across Halton.

From now on, all eggs used by schools, Halton Council staff restaurants, and catering staff at the Stobart Stadium Halton, will be free range.

The move follows an animal cruelty campaign by chefs Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and Jamie Oliver to ban battery chickens from the nation’s dinner plates.

And it pre-empts a European ban on battery eggs coming into force in 2012.

Halton councillor Phil Harris, executive board member for school meals, said: “This shows we are taking the treatment of chickens seriously in Halton.”

The council also plans to ban battery-reared chicken meat in the next few months and source produce locally and reduce packaging waste.

Liverpool City Council currently uses eggs from caged hens but only uses free-range chicken meat.