Taco Bell To Serve Only Cage-Free Eggs In US Restaurants By End Of 2016

Taco Bell is the latest fast food chain to commit to serving cage-free eggs across its restaurants, following similar initiatives made in recent months by McDonald's, Panera, the Kellogg Company, and Starbucks. The new measure will affect all of Taco Bell's more than 6,000 locations in the United States, both corporate- and franchise-owned.

According to a press release, Taco Bell expects to be the first national fast food chain to make the switch entirely, aiming to outpace other quick-service restaurants like those mentioned above.

In partnership with the American Humane Association, Taco Bell's eggs will be verified within the next 12 months as "American Humane Certified." The company also confirmed that it is on track to meet its goal of removing artificial flavors and colors, added trans-fats, high-fructose corn syrup, and unsustainable palm oil from core menu items by the beginning of 2016.

"Taco Bell has catapulted itself ahead of other major restaurant chains," said the Humane Society's senior food policy director, Josh Balk. "Switching to 100 percent cage-free eggs by the end of 2016 is a tremendous commitment that will quickly improve the lives of countless animals and further cement the future of egg production as being one without cages."