Guidelines

When you pick up an egg carton that has the "United Egg Producers Certified" seal, you can rest assured that those eggs were produced in compliance with United Egg Producers' Animal Husbandry Guidelines.

The effort started in 1999 with the formation of an independent scientific advisory committee charged with reviewing all scientific literature on animal well-being for egg-laying hens, and to recommend further research if necessary. The committee, composed of leading animal welfare scientific experts in the U.S. including USDA officials, academicians, scientists and humane association members, completed this mission and made recommendations to the United Egg Producers and the industry.

From these scientific recommendations, UEP wrote a set of industry guidelines titled "Animal Husbandry Guidelines for U.S. Egg Laying Flocks." These guidelines were first introduced as a voluntary program in 2002 for the industry to implement when requested by their customers, since then they have evolved into a committed program called "United Egg Producers Certified."

The United Egg Producers Certified program standards are the strictest in the industry and are part of our ongoing commitment to providing American consumers the safest, best quality and most economical eggs in the world. Our farmers commit to these strict guidelines and are audited by the USDA and Validus for compliance on 100 percent of their farms before they are allowed to place the United Egg Producers Certified seal of approval on their egg packaging.

The UEP Certified program for cage production provides assurance that hens receive adequate space, nutritious food, clean water, proper lighting, and fresh air daily as well as improves the flock’s livability and egg production rates.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Food and Drug Administration and the Federal Trade Commission have approved the UEP Certified logo and the International Egg Commission has recognized the program as a model from which to create animal welfare programs in other member countries throughout the world. In addition, the Food Marketing Institute and the National Council of Chain Restaurants also endorsed these guidelines.