00:00There's no requirement for food venues to tell customers where eggs used as ingredients are sourced from or how they're
00:06produced.
00:07And our research shows that 67% of people in the North East are unaware this is happening.
00:13This Easter, many diners across the North East will be heading to one of the many restaurants across the region.
00:18Yet an investigation by the RSPCA has found that some CAFs, pubs and restaurants in our area and across the
00:25UK
00:26may be using imported eggs from hens kept in battery cages, conditions which have been banned in the UK since
00:332012.
00:34Many of us shop free-range and grass-fed when eating at home.
00:39So is it time we apply this to our Meals Out?
00:42We're a nation of animal lovers, but many people don't realise that when you eat out,
00:47you could be choosing eggs from hens that are kept in cages, which has been banned for decades in the
00:54UK.
00:55We've got like a really strong history in the UK of making informed choices as consumers.
01:02And that's through clear labelling and retail, but it's totally lost when you come to sort of eat out, basically.
01:08When you go to restaurants, it's just not really clear.
01:13So conventional battery cages were banned in the UK in 2012.
01:18But food venues are still legally able to import eggs from hens kept in cages with barely any space to
01:26move,
01:26little enrichment.
01:28Most people across the UK, actually, would choose to eat elsewhere if they knew a restaurant or a cafe
01:35was using eggs from hens kept in battery cages because we've been making that choice in retail, haven't we, for
01:41years?
01:42So that's something that we're in the dark about, and we want to inform people of that
01:47so that they can make a good choice and ask good questions when they go out to restaurants.
01:52There is currently no requirement for venues to disclose the source or welfare standards of the eggs they serve.
01:58Therefore, customers have to ask in order to find out the welfare of animal products used in their favourite restaurants
02:04and food.
02:05If they were told that they have to have the RSPCA-assured badge outside a window alongside things like that,
02:11do you think that is something necessary that would help the conversation as is?
02:16Definitely, because then that's a shortcut to saying that this, the animals in the sort of ingredients,
02:23if you like, at this restaurant or cafe have had a good life,
02:27because any RSPCA-assured animal has met certain standards which are higher welfare,
02:35and we never have hens, no animals actually across the RSPCA-assured scheme are ever kept in cages.
02:42While the majority of shoppers check egg labels in supermarkets,
02:46only two in ten ask about production standards when eating out.
02:50Choosing venues with higher welfare sourcing, such as those carrying the RSPCA-assured label,
02:56can help support UK farmers and better animal welfare.
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