World’s largest cruise ships go cage free

Two of the world’s largest cruise ship companies have decided to source all the almost the 10.8m eggs they use in onboard catering from cage-free chickens.

The US companies, Carnival Cruise Lines and Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, made the move after discussions with the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS).

Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines will immediately switch 3.2m cage eggs to cage-free alternatives increasing to 6.8m over the next 12 months.

Carnival Cruise Lines has said they will convert 2m eggs from cage to free-range produce.

“Many vacationers take their concern for animals, food safety and sustainability with them when they travel, and we applaud Royal Caribbean and Carnival for taking those concerns seriously,” Matthew Prescott from the HSUS said.

In the US the HSUS has spearheaded a campaign which as seen fast food outlets such as Subway, Burger King and Wendy’s replace cage eggs on their menu with cage free.

Hellmann’s mayonnaise in the USA has also announced plans to convert the 350 million eggs it uses to cage-free.

States Michigan and California have banned cages while Ohio is set to enact a ban on new cage producers entering the market.