DENVER Quiznos said late Tuesday it has developed a new animal welfare policy regarding its supply of eggs, pork and turkey after discussions with the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.
Quiznos joins a growing list of companies, including Burger King, CKE Restaurants and Chipotle, that have pledged to increase their purchases from suppliers that treat animals more humanely.
The 5,000-unit sandwich chain's new policy calls for it this year to buy 4 percent of its eggs from producers whose hens were not kept in crowded cages. Over the next five years, that percentage should increase to 10 percent of the chain’s eggs.
Quiznos also will purchase 1 percent of its pork products from animals raised in crate-free environments with a goal of reaching 15 percent in 2012.
The chain also pledged by next year to buy 5 percent of its turkeys from suppliers who use “controlled atmosphere killing,” a method that PETA considers more humane. In controlled atmosphere killing, the turkeys’ oxygen is replaced by other gases.
PETA officials said the animal rights organization had been quietly working with Quiznos on the policy. A Quiznos spokesman however, said the chain had already been seeking out and using suppliers with humane practices.
“Those were things we were already working on,” said Quiznos spokesman Joe Hodas.
Contact Dina Berta at [email protected].
