Our Standard for Eggs: Beyond Cage-Free

At Whole Foods Market, we’re doing more for the hens that are doing so much for us. All the eggs in our dairy cases and our own kitchens are cage free or better. Because when chickens behave naturally, they naturally lay great eggs.

Let’s Get Real About Eggs

We go above and beyond to make shopping for better eggs in our stores easy for you. When it comes to better welfare for our birds, we’ve been ahead of the curve for nearly two decades:

2004: We began selling only cage-free eggs in our dairy cases.

2005: We went cage-free in our own kitchens and bakeries.

2017: We launched our Animal Welfare Standards for Laying Hens with our 365 by Whole Foods Market carton eggs.

2020: All eggs in our dairy cases must meet our Animal Welfare Standards for Laying Hens, which include these basic requirements:

• Hens have room to roam and scratch about
• No antibiotics given to hens
• No land-animal by-products in hen feed
• Nests and perches for hens to roost at night
• Hens provided with foraging material

Animal Welfare Standards for Laying Hens

Our Animal Welfare Standards for Laying Hens were developed after more than 500 visits to laying farms and consultations with farmers, poultry geneticists, pullet growers and animal welfare scientists. The standards are designed to improve the level of animal welfare and meet the expectations of our customers.

All eggs in our dairy cases are tagged with one of these four logos that indicate how the chickens live.

Our Four Production Systems

Our standards allow four unique production systems. It’s important to understand that no one system is better than the other, but rather each one achieves better animal welfare through different methods. Farmers choose which type of production system to use based on climate and their farm’s unique environment. We audit each farm on a consistent basis to ensure compliance.

Watch a video about our Animal Welfare Standards for Laying Hens.

Cage-Free Plus

For our Cage-Free Plus label, we require that hens have living conditions to support natural behavior, such as dust bathing and foraging. Hens are given space to move about the house freely, are provided with perches for roosting at night (their preferred sleeping method), have places to shelter from aggressive hens, and are provided bedding material on the floor. They might live entirely in housing or have access to an outdoor area. Beak trimming (infrared method preferred) must preserve functional, natural use of their beaks.

Outdoor Access

All Cage-Free Plus standards must be met for our Outdoor Access label. In addition, for this label we require an area outside the barn that is at least as big as the space inside, and there must be adequate openings in the barn for the hens to easily go outdoors. Water must be provided outdoors. Shade and cover has to accommodate at least 50% of the birds outdoors and be visible from the doors of the house so the hens see that they can get to sheltered areas while foraging.

Pasture Raised

Our Pasture Raised label is for hens that have access to pasture all day, every day. Shade and cover has to accommodate at least 75% of the birds outdoors and be visible from the doors of the house. We require vegetative cover of at least 50% at all times in the pasture so the hens can forage where they are most comfortable — among bushes, trees and tall grass. Beak trimming (infrared method preferred) must preserve functional, natural use of their beaks.

Outdoor Living

For our Outdoor Living label, hens live outdoors with mobile housing for laying eggs, roosting at night and sheltering during storms. The house is moved as needed to ensure continuous access to at least 75% vegetative cover and to allow the previous area’s vegetation to recover. Cover and shade must accommodate 100% of the birds. Beak trimming is prohibited.

See complete Animal Welfare Standards for Laying Hens.