A worldwide ranking focused on animal welfare standards has placed McDonald’s as the best fast food chain – but it still has much work to do to address the suffering of factory chickens. The leading global measure of how companies perform on farm animal welfare has revealed that McDonald’s has outperformed its worldwide competitors, including KFC, Burger King, Subway and Starbucks.

The sixth Business Benchmark on Farm Animal Welfare (BBFAW) report, which was launched at the London Stock Exchange, ranks 110 global food companies on farm animal welfare standards in tiers one to six (tier 1 being the best, and tier 6 the worst).

No fast food company has achieved tier-one status. However, McDonald’s – which feed around 68 million people per day – is towards the top of the ranking in tier 2, having made farm animal welfare a part of its business strategy.

McDonald’s has a universal Animal Health and Welfare Policy and has made important commitments to animal welfare, according to BBFAW.

These include the sourcing of eggs from cage-free hens in the UK, Europe and New Zealand and the sourcing of higher welfare pork in Britain, as well as aims in the US to phase out cages for pregnant pigs, and the move toward sourcing cage-free eggs in the US, Canada and Australia.

However despite the fast-food giant’s achievement, McDonald’s still has a “significant way” to go to improve the welfare of the millions of meat chickens served up in its restaurants around the world, says BBFAW.

Of particular concern is the company’s lack of progress in addressing the chicken breed issue. An industry genetic arms race has led to the widespread use of fast-growth chickens whose legs can buckle under their body weight and who can suffer from a range of leg, heart and lung problems.

On top of this, McDonald’s is yet to commit to giving these animals sufficient space to move around and behave more naturally, says BBFAW.

“It’s clear that fast food companies can no longer afford to ignore animal welfare. Consumers are showing that they increasingly care about the welfare of animals when they are deciding where to eat,” said Steve McIvor, CEO of World Animal Protection.

“McDonald’s has made some strides to improve conditions for farm animals in certain markets. However, they still have a lot more work to do to reduce the suffering of factory farmed chickens, who live in conditions that are unacceptable. Like any other animal, chickens must have the chance to live decent lives, free from pain and stress.”

“Over 50 companies, including Subway and Burger King, have committed to make meaningful improvements to the lives of chickens and we are looking to McDonald’s to show leadership on this issue too.”

The Business Benchmark on Farm Animal Welfare shows that there is more work to be done by other household names, which sit towards the bottom of the ranking. Brands such as KFC (in tier five) show limited evidence that animal welfare is a key issue for their business at all, while fast-food favorites, Subway and Burger King, both rank in tier four.

Meanwhile, UK-based pizza chain, Domino’s Pizza Company, having moved up three tiers this year to tier three, has an established approach to farm animal welfare and performs significantly better than its rival Pizza Hut, and global coffee chain, Starbucks, which both sit in tier five.

For these companies, farm animal welfare is on the business agenda, but there is limited evidence of implementation.

British and Swiss companies dominate the top tier
British and Swiss companies dominate tier-one with high-end grocers Waitrose, Marks & Spencer, as well as the Co-op Group, Cranswick and Migros, all taking the lead on farm animal welfare.

Mega-brands Mars Inc. and Muller both rank at the bottom in tier six, providing limited, if any evidence that they recognize farm animal welfare. This is something their customers will no doubt be very concerned about, believes McIvor.

“Our aim with this report was always to encourage better disclosure of companies’ standards – which will encourage others to act,” he adds.

“Global companies like Mars, Kraft Heinz and Starbucks are trailing behind. We hope to see them and others working hard to improve standards for farm animals, and rise the ranks in future years.”

The report shows that many of the 110 global food companies covered by the Benchmark are integrating farm animal welfare into their management and reporting processes.

Forty-seven percent of these companies now have an explicit Board or senior management oversight of farm animal welfare, while 72 percent have published formal improvement objectives for farm animal welfare.

Meanwhile, 87 companies (79 percent) have made commitments to the avoidance of close confinement in one or more of the major markets in which they operate. The most common corporate commitments relate to the elimination of cages for laying hens and the elimination of sow stalls.