Aramark Establishes Animal Welfare Policy

PHILADELPHIA -- One of the nation's largest foodservice companies is making animal welfare a core tenet of its business model. In collaboration with Humane Society of the United States, Aramark's new policy addresses issues impacting the treatment of animals for egg, pork, veal, beef, poultry and dairy products.

It builds on commitments Aramark has made over the past several years as part of its responsible purchasing practices in the U.S., which includes purchasing only cage-free eggs by 2020 and eliminating all pork from animals bred using gestation crates by 2017.

The expanded policy covers several additional commitments governing the care and treatment of farm animals, including confinement, painful procedures and rapid growth processes.

In addition, the company will work with suppliers to eliminate the use of hormones or feed additives that are considered to be harmful for farm animals, including recombinant bovine growth hormone.

As one of the nation's largest contract food providers, Aramark purchases a wide variety of egg, dairy and meat items from hundreds of suppliers.