An animal welfare group has launched an e-mail and telephone campaign to stop famed restaurant chain Din Tai Fung from using eggs hatched in allegedly cruel conditions.
Din Tai Fung uses factory-farmed eggs for a fried rice dish priced at NT$290 (US$9.23) per plate, Environment and Animal Society of Taiwan deputy chief executive Chen Yu-min (陳玉敏) said on Wednesday.
Factory farms put hatching hens in small cages with a floor space about the size of an A4 piece of paper, which is contrary to chicken’s natural instincts to groom, range and nest at high places, resulting in unnecessary suffering, Chen said.
“Din Tai Fung’s business decision each day condemns thousands of hens to live in crowded cages to endure miserable conditions as living, egg-laying machines,” she said.
The decision to use factory-farmed eggs is odd when the company makes about NT$2 billion annually and its venue in London has exclusively used cage-free eggs since last year, Chen said.
That the company treats Taiwanese and British consumers differently is discriminatory, she said, adding that society had only made the reasonable demand for the franchise to make a commitment to phase out factory-farmed eggs.
For the past year, Din Tai Fung has only given vague responses when asked about the practice, saying it has to take costs into consideration, conduct test menus or weigh market acceptance, which are delaying tactics, she said.
“For a brand that prides itself on quality, Din Tai Fung’s unwillingness to set policy goalposts for transitioning to cage-free eggs as we have requested is disappointing,” she said.
“Consumers should write or call to press the franchise to source its eggs from humane farms,” she said.
Din Tai Fung issued a press release on Thursday, saying the media have used images of factory farms that do not reflect the conditions of Fu Yuan poultry farm, its supplier, which is certified for quality and using climate-controlled, lighted and aerated cages.
ALIGNED THINKING: Taiwan and Japan have a mutual interest in trade, culture and engineering, and can work together for stability, Cho Jung-tai said Taiwan and Japan are two like-minded countries willing to work together to form a “safety barrier” in the Indo-Pacific region, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) yesterday said at the opening ceremony of the 35th Taiwan-Japan Modern Engineering and Technology Symposium in Taipei. Taiwan and Japan are close geographically and closer emotionally, he added. Citing the overflowing of a barrier lake in the Mataian River (馬太鞍溪) in September, Cho said the submersible water level sensors given by Japan during the disaster helped Taiwan monitor the lake’s water levels more accurately. Japan also provided a lot of vaccines early in the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic,
Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) on Monday announced light shows and themed traffic lights to welcome fans of South Korean pop group Twice to the port city. The group is to play Kaohsiung on Saturday as part of its “This Is For” world tour. It would be the group’s first performance in Taiwan since its debut 10 years ago. The all-female group consists of five South Koreans, three Japanese and Tainan’s Chou Tzu-yu (周子瑜), the first Taiwan-born and raised member of a South Korean girl group. To promote the group’s arrival, the city has been holding a series of events, including a pop-up
TEMPORAL/SPIRITUAL: Beijing’s claim that the next Buddhist leader must come from China is a heavy-handed political maneuver that will fall flat-faced, experts said China’s requirement that the Dalai Lama’s reincarnation to be born in China and approved by Beijing has drawn criticism, with experts at a forum in Taipei yesterday saying that if Beijing were to put forth its own Dalai Lama, the person would not be recognized by the Tibetan Buddhist community. The experts made a remarks at the two-day forum hosted by the Tibet Religious Foundation of His Holiness the Dalai Lama titled: “The Snow Land Forum: Finding Common Ground on Tibet.” China says it has the right to determine the Dalai Lama’s reincarnation, as it claims sovereignty over Tibet since ancient times,
Temperatures in some parts of Taiwan are expected to fall sharply to lows of 15°C later this week as seasonal northeasterly winds strengthen, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said today. It is to be the strongest cold wave to affect northern Taiwan this autumn, while Chiayi County in the southwest and some parts of central Taiwan are likely to also see lower temperatures due to radiational cooling, which occurs under conditions of clear skies, light winds and dry weather, the CWA said. Across Taiwan, temperatures are to fall gradually this week, dropping to 15°C to 16°C in the early hours of Wednesday
RSS