Target Joins McDonald’s in Dropping Litchfield Egg Supplier

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — McDonald's and Target have dropped one of the nation's largest egg suppliers after an animal rights group released an undercover video shot at the egg producer's farms in three states.

McDonald's Corporation announced Friday it had dropped Sparboe Farms as a supplier after a video by the group Mercy for Animals showed cases of animal cruelty at five facilities in Iowa, Minnesota and Colorado. Twin Cities-based Target Corporation soon followed, saying it would pull eggs from the Litchfield, Minnesota-based company off its shelves.

Sparboe produces 300 million eggs a year, in regular, liquid, frozen and dried form, and ships them to restaurants and stores across the country. The company's Vincent, Iowa, plant had billed itself as the sole fresh egg supplier to every McDonald's west of the Mississippi River.

The video was first aired Friday on ABC's Good Morning America.