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Australian regulators are clamping down on egg and pork producers who deliberately misuse terms such as "free range" to describe animals that actually spend much of their lives indoors. "When claims such as 'free range' or 'bred free range' are misused, consumers may be misled into paying more for a product feature that doesn't exist," said Rod Sims of the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission. "Competitors are also harmed as legitimate free-range producers unfairly lose their competitive advantage." 

Trader Joe's announced last week that it will transition its entire egg supply to cage-free sources. First up are Western states: Eggs sold in California, Oregon, Washington, Arizona, New Mexico and Colorado will be 100 percent cage-free by 2020. All eggs across Trader Joe's stores will be sourced from cage-free suppliers by 2025. But the company might meet its goals sooner.

The size of McDonald's and its global footprint will drive changes in the food chain as the company moves toward cage-free eggs and local, sustainable ingredients, said CEO Steve Easterbrook. A Fortune reporter goes behind the scenes at farms and production facilities to explore cage-free egg production and what goes in to increasing the supply.

General Motors has surpassed its 2020 target to achieve 131 landfill-free sites four years early. The company achieved landfill-free status at 23 new sites in 2016, bringing its network of landfill-free sites to 152 worldwide.

McDonald's announcement that it would transition to using cage-free eggs in its food was designed to appeal to socially conscious consumers -- but the fast-food giant will need a more holistic approach to succeed, writes Phil Lempert. "Just using cage-free eggs in an Egg McMuffin ... really doesn't change much about the sandwich," he notes. 

Palm Oil Free Certification programme launches in UK and Australia A new certification programme has launched to validate consumer products that make no use of palm oil, which has been blamed for fuelling deforestation in Asia. Set up by a group of women experts, the Palm Oil Free Certification Accreditation Programme (POFCAP) is now in operation in Australia and the UK following approval from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, IP Australia, and IPO UK. Fourteen other nations have applied to introduce the label. Australia-based eco cleaning products company Clean Conscience is the first to carry the label, and the group is working with a host of other companies on certification. Despite improvements to tackle deforestation, POFCAP said "only 17% of all palm oil used can be classed as 'non-conflict'". The scheme is based on extensive research and trusted methods to trace all potential palm oil and palm oil derivative ingredients of a product back to their source. (Business Green)

The adidas Group, whose brands include adidas, Reebok and TaylorMade, has partnered with bluesign technologies and committed to being 90 percent perfluorinated compound (PFC) free by June 15 and 99 percent PFC free by Dec. 31, 2017. The company has already committed to phase out the use of long-chain PFCs by no later than Jan. 1, 2015.

Publix Super Markets pledged to source 100% of its eggs from cage-free operations by 2026.

"MillerCoors, the second largest brewer in the US, announced on Wednesday that all of its major breweries have achieved landfill-free operations. The Fort Worth Brewery in Texas was the final of its eight sites to reach the milestone, after the facility engaged a 'Sustainability Employee Council' that focused on changing employee behaviors and making recycling easier and more accessible."

"MillerCoors, the second largest brewer in the US, announced on Wednesday that all of its major breweries have achieved landfill-free operations. The Fort Worth Brewery in Texas was the final of its eight sites to reach the milestone, after the facility engaged a 'Sustainability Employee Council' that focused on changing employee behaviors and making recycling easier and more accessible."

General Motors achieved landfill-free status at a 1.8 million square foot manufacturing facility in Rochester, New York. The company now manages 109 landfill-free facilities in total.

The most recent corporation to join the growing movement toward deforestation-free palm oil sourcing is ConAgra, whose brands, the company stated, can be found in 99 percent of American households. 

Panera Bread will transition to 100% cage-free eggs over the next five years, the company said Thursday. Panera will also stop sourcing pork from pigs raised with gestation crates and roasted turkey from birds raised with antibiotics, and boost the amount of beef that comes from grass-fed, free-range sources by the end of this year

Ford Motor Company has achieved landfill-free status across its entire network of North American headquarter facilities, resulting in the diversion of more than 240,000 pounds of waste from landfills. The company's 3 North American headquarter facilities are located in Dearborn, Michigan, Oakville, Ontario, and the Santa Fe district in Mexico City.

Dunkin' Donuts has committed to acquiring all of the eggs served on its domestic menus from cage-free sources by 2025, the company said Monday.

Supermarket chain Albertsons Companies has pledged to source 100% of its eggs from cage-free operations by 2025.

PepsiCo joins the flock of food companies swearing off eggs from caged hens. PepsiCo PEP -0.31% today became the latest company to commit to using 100% cage-free eggs. The company will make the transition in North America by 2020 and globally by 2025. PepsiCo uses eggs in some of its baked products, such as biscuits, cookies, and protein bars, as well as oatmeal.

More than three-quarters (77 percent) of Nestlé's agricultural commodities are verified as deforestation-free, the company announced Tuesday.

Even if you try to avoid buying plastics, you might be surprised to find it lurks in many common food and beverage containers, including tin cans, disposable coffee cups and even tea bags. On Wednesday, however, the environmental group A Plastic Planet debuted the world's first "Plastic Free Trust Mark" to help shoppers know that their products are packaged entirely without the non-biodegradable material, which harms marine life and has entered the larger food chain.

Last week, Nestlé announced that it will commit to sourcing only cage-free eggs across its entire global supply chain by 2025. This pledge comes almost two years after its U.S. division said it would switch to cage-free eggs for its food brands by 2020.

Wal-Mart and Sam's Club will switch to 100% cage-free eggs by 2025, with suppliers' compliance to be checked annually by a third-party certifier. The relatively long lead time for the transition will allow the retailers to keep prices down while improving conditions for chickens, officials said.