KUALA LUMPUR:An animal welfare group has taken issue with a hypermarket chain for selling eggs from caged hens.
Lever Foundation yesterday claimed that an investigative footage last month found that hens were crammed in cages at Tesco Malaysia’s egg suppliers’ farms.
Lever Foundation programme manager Katherine Ma said the ‘battery cage’ system has been banned in Britain and several other countries.
Ma said Tesco had publicly committed to only sell cage-free eggs in its home country,United Kingdom, as well as in Europe by 2025, and Thailand by 2030 or earlier, and it should be the same for Malaysia.
Tesco Malaysia, in a statement, reiterated its commitment to sell cage-free eggs by 2030.
It said the lack of cage-free egg suppliers in the country and the readiness of the industry has deterred its efforts to provide cage-free eggs for local consumers.
‘Since early last year, we have been speaking with local egg suppliers to explore the opportunity of supplying cage-free eggs to Tesco but we were informed (by the suppliers) that there were no guidelines from the respective authorities to regulate cage-free farming.
‘Animal welfare is important to us and we will continue to engage with the government and the suppliers to explore the opportunity of sourcing cage-free eggs here, which will be achieved in tandem with the readiness of the industry and the infrastructure of the nation.’
Tesco said eggs sold at its stores were sourced from local suppliers and were in full compliance with the quality and safety requirements set by the Department of Veterinary Service (DVS).
‘All local egg farms that we source from are certified by DSV, which provides guidelines on good farming practices including hygiene, disease control, feed, design and ventilation.
‘Given the stringent guidelines provided by DVS, eggs sold at our stores are safe for consumption.’
SPCA Selangor chairman Christine Chin said all retailers should examine their supply chains and reject or correct suppliers who failed to meet animal welfare standards.