Unilever Pledges To Help End Cruel Egg Industry Practices

Unilever, the multinational consumer goods company — whose products include major brands like Ben & Jerry's, Hellmann's, Lipton Tea, Breyers, Klondike, and many others — has announced plans to help end a controversial and cruel practice in egg production.

Although Unilever is not directly involved in egg production, the company is reliant on egg production for a number of its food brands, and has pledged to put an end to a process called maceration, in which millions of live chicks are dumped into grinders each year because they cannot produce eggs.

The company has committed to providing financial support for the research and development of technology that would eliminate the hatching and culling of male eggs. Furthermore, Unilever has announced that it is "exploring ways to further meet consumer needs for products with different nutrition profiles and preferences for plant-based protein sources through the use of egg-replacement ingredients in some product categories."

So far, Unilever's decision has already received approval from The Humane Society of the U.S.

"I'm a firm believer in the notion that the marketplace has a major role to play in helping animals," wrote Humane Society CEO and president Wayne Pacelle.

"Every commercial enterprise, by making intentional choices, can build humane practices into its business models and provide consumers with choices that improve the lives of animals... It's my hope that Kraft and other competitors, and ultimately the egg industry itself, will follow in Unilever's footsteps and join the push for reforms that will please consumers and that are simply the right thing to do. When it's the right moral decision, it's typically the right business decision, too."

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Karen Lo is an associate editor at The Daily Meal. Follow her on Twitter @appleplexy.