McDonald's to stop using eggs from caged hens within the next 10 years

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McDonald's has promised to stop using eggs from caged hens within the next ten years in its 16,000 stores in the US.

The chain is trying to adapt to changing consumer tastes to reverse sinking profits as the fast food market becomes increasingly crowded.

“Our customers are increasingly interested in knowing more about their food and where it comes from,” said Mike Andres, McDonald’s US president.

McDonald's buys some two billion eggs a year in US and another 120 million in Canada to serve on its breakfast menus, including the Egg McMuffin and Egg White Delight.

McDonald’s said it had bought more than 13 million cage free eggs annually since 2011.

That number is likely to rise as McDonald’s plans to roll out all-day breakfasts to cater to customer demand from October.

The decision follow’s McDonald’s commitment to phase out meat from chickens raised with antibiotics, announced in March. It will bring McDonald’s in line with rival Burger King, which has already said it will stop using eggs from caged hens by 2017.