Food companies ranked on animal welfare

Almost three-quarters (73 percent) of companies have published farm animal welfare policies, up from 46 percent in 2012, according to the findings compiled by Compassion in World Farming, World Animal Protection and investment firm Coller Capital. Cargill and McDonald’s Corp. were among companies that received a Tier 2 ranking for making animal welfare integral to their business strategy. Tier 3 companies that have established policies but still have work to be done included Hormel Foods, JBS, Subway, Sysco Corp., Tyson Foods, Walmart and Wendy’s. Those making progress on implementation (Tier 4) included Chipotle Mexican Grill, Costco Wholesale, Kroger, Panera Bread and WH Group. At Tier 5 for showing limited evidence of implementation were Chick-fil-A, ConAgra, Darden Restaurants, Dunkin’ Brands, OSI Group, Publix, Starbucks, Target and Yum Brands, among others. Those ranked at the bottom, or Tier 6, for showing no evidence of having animal welfare on the business agenda included Domino’s Pizza and Kraft Heinz.