has launched a highly unusual board fight at McDonald’s to demand the fast-food chain end the practice of keeping pregnant pigs in its supply chain confined in small crates.
In a statement on Sunday, McDonald’s said Mr Icahn had nominated two board directors as part of a campaign related to “a narrow issue regarding the company’s pork” processing. Mr Icahn has asked McDonald’s to require that all its US pork suppliers have “crate-free” pigs and set specific deadlines. McDonald’s pledged in 2012 to phase out the use of gestation stalls for pregnant sows in its US pork supply chain in 10 years. By the end of 2022, the company expects to source 85 to 90 per cent of its US pork from sows no longer confined to gestation crates, and completely eliminate this sourcing by the end of 2024, the fast-food chain said on Sunday., an animal-rights activist non-profit group, has questioned the company’s commitment.
“[McDonald’s] pledged to get rid of the practice, not still allow six of the 16 weeks to still be confined. We are talking about a month and a half of each pregnancy cycle never being able to turn around.”