Costco Is Still Selling Caged Eggs in Asia and Steve Aoki and ‘The Walking Dead’s’ Eleanor Matsuura Are Asking Them to Stop – Showbiz Cheat Sheet

DJ Steve Aoki and The Walking Deads Eleanor Matsuura are calling out Costco for selling caged eggs in Asia. The company ended the practice of buying eggs from caged hens in western countries in 2015, yet it has not stopped selling the eggs in Asia. In a recent letter, Aoki and Matsuura urged Costco to stop this practice and honor their own stance on animal cruelty.

In 2015, several high-profile celebrities spoke out against Costcos practice of selling eggs produced by caged hens. Brad Pitt and Bill Maher penned separate letters asking Costco president Craig Jelinek to stop buying eggs from farms that cage their hens.

As you know, these birds producing eggs for your shelvesare crammed five or more into cages that are not large enough for even one hento spread her wings, Pitt noted.

Maher later sent a statement to The New York Times slamming the practice of caging hens. Maher stated that if companies did the same to dogs or cats then it would immediately result in cruelty charges. But in the case of the egg industry, it is business as usual.

Costco did not issue a direct response to Pitt and Mahersletters. The company did, however, release a statement condemning those whomistreat animals and assured its customers that they are committed to theethical treatment of animals.

The company later agreed to stop selling eggs from caged hens inthe United States, the United Kingdom, Iceland, Mexico, Spain, and France.Although this was a step in the right direction, Costco still supports farmsthat raise caged hens throughout Asia.

There are important differences between hens that are raised incages and those that have the freedom to roam. Although farmers can betterprotect and monitor caged hens, putting these birds in tight quarters preventsthem from engaging in natural behavior.

This includes things like dust bathing, foraging, and walking.The cages also prohibit hens from roosting and nesting, and they normally willnot show signs of comfort, like stretching, wagging their tails, shaking, orflapping their wings.

In some cages around the world, hens get trapped in the wires andthe close quarters result in foot issues and overgrown claws.

Cage-free hens, however, are given considerably more space toroam and display all the natural behaviors that caged hens do not. These hensare raised in a different environment, however, then free-range hens, which aregiven access to an outside area.

Although Costco has stopped buying eggs produced by caged hens inwestern countries, the company has yet to ban the practice in all of its storesaround the world something that Matsuura and Aoki addressed in their recent letter.

The letter addressed to Jelinek starts by praising Costcosefforts in eliminating the sales of caged-eggs in stores throughout severalwestern countries. But Matsuura and Aoki took issue with the fact that the company still sellscaged-eggs in a handful of countries in Asia.

The acclaimed DJ and The Walking Dead star noted that eggsfrom caged farms are still sold at Costco stores in South Korea, Japan, andTaiwan. They believe that this contradicts the companys own animalwelfare policy, which states that all animals should be allowed thefreedom to exhibit natural behavior.

It is also a double standard that puts Asian customers atincreased risk, the letter continued. As you know, studies from adozen different research teams including the European Food Safety Authorityhave found caged egg farms have dramatically higher rates of salmonellacontamination than cage-free farms.

Matsuura and Aoki went on to say that they believe Asiancustomers should have the right to buy eggs that are of the same quality aspeople have access to in the west. They also slammed the companys decision tocontinue this practice in Asia as unacceptable.

The two pointed out that most retailers in Asia have alreadycorrected this issue and that Costco is already behind the curve. Costco hasyet to respond to Matsuura and Aokis letter regarding their practice ofselling caged-eggs in Asia.

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Costco Is Still Selling Caged Eggs in Asia and Steve Aoki and 'The Walking Dead's' Eleanor Matsuura Are Asking Them to Stop - Showbiz Cheat Sheet

Reviewed and Recommended by Erik Baquero