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McRib Pigs' Conditions Appalling: Humane Society

Supplier misleading about animals' condition, group says

By Matt Cantor,  Newser Staff

Posted Nov 3, 2011 5:20 PM CDT | Updated Nov 5, 2011 8:00 AM CDT

(Newser) – Your much-hyped McRib sandwich may have a dark past. The Humane Society has filed a complaint with the feds that McDonald’s pork supplier, Smithfield Foods, has misled consumers regarding how it treats its animals. Smithfield, which has won a “supplier sustainability” award from the restaurant chain, calls its pigs’ living conditions “ideal” and says it is “100% committed” to their care. But an undercover investigation by the Humane Society last year concluded just the opposite, writes James McWilliams at the Atlantic.

Among the details: Female pigs couldn’t move in their gestation crates; some crates were covered in blood from pigs chewing the bars; pigs were castrated without anesthesia; and no veterinarians were in evidence. “It doesn't take a veterinarian to know that locking a 500-pound animal in a cage so cramped she can't even turn around for months on end isn't exactly 'ideal,’” says a Humane Society rep. The restaurant “should heed the advice of its own animal welfare advisers and dump gestation crates from its supply chain.”

The pork used in McRib sandwiches comes from a supplier that mistreats its pigs, the Humane Society says.
The pork used in McRib sandwiches comes from a supplier that mistreats its pigs, the Humane Society says.   (PRNewsFoto/McDonald's)
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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 63 comments
saucier111
Nov 6, 2011 7:59 PM CST
As they try to answer the age old question, is a hogs  ass pork?
AuDiophile
Nov 6, 2011 2:15 PM CST
As if I needed another reason not to eat the Mc Rib. I used to work for McDonalds a few years back though. not a bad place to work, if you're in or fresh out of High school and can tolerate smelling like hamburgers, even after you shower. It amazes me that people fall for the Mc Rib hype "the Mc Rib is back" no shit it's back it comes back every year, but I swear people act like it won't be coming back. And it can't be that good anyways, people always fall for this sort of hype, and being a sound engineer, and also learning about marketing, management and promotion, Among my peers in the entertainment industry, including engineers, those in graphic design, video work, photography etc. Pretty much none of them buy into the average consumer bull shit, yet a lot of us are trying to work for and/or appeal to, at least in some way to the average consumer.
HMunster
Nov 6, 2011 12:48 PM CST
I just want to go on record as saying that the McRib tastes like McShit... I only tried it once - when it first came out years ago - and I had the McRuns for a week...

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