Kai Hendry/CC by 2.0

If you had the same reaction that I did (i.e., violent retching) when you heard about KFC's hideously unhealthy Double Down (you know, the sandwich that replaced bread with fried chicken and forced you to think about all those globules of deadly gunk gumming up people's blood vessels), get this: A single egg yolk contains vastly more cholesterol than an entire Double Down. As Dave Barry says, I am not making this up.

With heart disease being the number one killer of Americans, the cholesterol-bomb egg industry has resorted to ever-more-desperate "move along, nothing to see here" tactics to try to pass the blame, but a new report in the Canadian Journal of Cardiology calls them out on their bull … uh, chicken poop. The take-away? Eating just one whole egg per day can double your risk of coronary disease.

Looking to break the egg habit? It's as easy as (eggless custard) pie—check out these tips and recipes!

Written by Jeff Mackey

If anyone still believes that "organic" eggs are a humane choice, please look at these gut-wrenching photos from the Organic Valley farm in Wisconsin: They show birds in stinking, stifling, windowless warehouses, crammed so tightly together that they're barely able to move—much less spread their wings, scratch in the dirt, or interact normally in any way.

The heartbreaking photos were released by a farm-policy research group called The Cornucopia Institute in a report called "Scrambled Eggs," which details the entrenched abuse in industrial-scale egg factories.

Like many other facilities that raise pullets (young birds), this house in Southwest Wisconsin confines the animals, granting no outdoor access whatsoever, and provides virtually no natural light in the building. Photo by The Cornucopia Institute.

36,000 birds in an aviary system in Wisconsin, supplying Chino Valley Ranchers. The hens also have access to an outdoor run. Photo by The Cornucopia Institute.

As the pictures attest, "organic" doesn't mean that birds are allowed to be free. Cage-free does not mean free range, of course, and so the chickens can still be crammed into sheds and forced to suffer through having a part of their beak cut off, just like birds on factory farms. But "organic" does mean that the chickens aren't fed antibiotics—leaving them all the more susceptible to illness in the filthy, poorly ventilated, crowded conditions.

The outside view of a 60,000 bird “organic” henhouse in Pennsylvania. The other side of the building has a small grassy porch as “outdoor access.” Photo by The Cornucopia Institute.

A two-story henhouse with tens of thousands of organic hens inside. The small, enclosed porch on the first floor provides “outdoor access” for the chickens on the second floor as well—it is accessible via a ramp that leads chickens down, single-file. Photo by The Cornucopia Institute.

Break the cycle of cruelty in your own life by choosing vegan alternatives to eggs, meat, and dairy products. Call 1-888-VEG-FOOD or order a free copy of our vegetarian/vegan starter kit today. 

Written by Jennifer O'Connor

Ever since half a billion eggs were recalled because of a salmonella outbreak, people have been talking about food safety regulations. Animal welfare issues have been mentioned, but they need to be considered more seriously. The following are some facts to help you tell the hens' side of the story:

There's cruelty in every carton of eggs:
Ninety-nine percent of hens used by the egg industry are confined to filthy, crowded battery cages. In June, the owner of one of the egg farms involved in the recall—and of the company that supplies chickens and chicken feed to both farms implicated in the outbreak—pleaded guilty to cruelty to animals and paid more than $130,000 in fines and restitution following an undercover investigation by Mercy for Animals.

Salmonella spreads like wildfire on factory farms:
Under squalid factory farm conditions, it's easy for salmonella bacteria—which live in the intestines and feces of animals—to spread from bird to bird and from birds to people. Vegan foods don't naturally harbor salmonella bacteria.

Avoiding eggs is the best way to prevent salmonella poisoning and reduce animal suffering:
A salmonella vaccine that has been used successfully in Britain is available, but American regulators don't believe there's enough evidence to show that vaccinating hens will prevent people from getting sick. It's obvious that our food safety regulations are not all they're cracked up to be and that the safest and kindest way to prevent salmonella poisoning is to stop eating eggs altogether. PETA is urging Iowa schools to stop serving eggs to children in order to help protect them from food poisoning. You can opt for egg replacer, scrambled tofu, and other tasty vegan foods.

Written by Heather Moore

More than a quarter of a billion eggs—a quarter of a billion!—have reportedly been recalled because of an outbreak of salmonella that has sickened hundreds of people in at least three states. A nationwide recall of 13 brands sold by an Iowa egg factory farm has launched a multi-agency investigation that is only expected to grow in scope and scale.

It's heartbreaking to imagine how many hens lived and died in misery to lay and lose their now rejected eggs, when you consider that a hen has to endure 22 hours of confinement in a crowded battery cage to produce just one egg. Our friends at Mercy for Animals recently released undercover video footage from a California egg factory farm exposing row after multi-stacked row of chickens who live in filthy cages in which they can barely move, injured and sick birds who never see a veterinarian, and birds who are violently grabbed and thrown by their wings, necks, and legs:

The easiest way to steer clear of diarrhea, cramps, and a possible trip to the emergency room is to avoid eggs altogether. There are loads of ways to avoid eating chicken embryos—check out all these alternatives.

Written by Jennifer O'Connor

BrokenSphere / CC by 1.0

Here's a toxic tidbit from the "Gross Meat Facts" files: Chickens who are raised for their flesh are routinely given feed laced with Roxarsone, an additive that contains—are you ready for this—arsenic. May we suggest a new slogan for the nugget bucket? "Potent poison in every piece!"

The fact is, roughly 70 percent of the chickens who are raised for their flesh in the U.S. are fed arsenic-laced feed. (Like antibiotics, arsenic is believed to speed growth and produce more meat to sell, quicker.) The chicken industry insists that most of the arsenic is eliminated in the chickens' waste (tough luck for fish in nearby waterways), but a recent study conducted by the Utah Department of Health revealed that it is also excreted in chickens' eggs. This was discovered after two children who ate eggs daily from the family's hens (who had been given feed containing Roxarsone) were found to have arsenic levels in their bloodstream that were at least twice the level deemed toxic.

It's also in chickens' flesh, according to a study conducted by the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP), an organization that is petitioning the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to ban arsenic feed additives. The IATP found that all the fast-food chicken and more than half of the store-bought chicken tested contained elevated levels of arsenic. High arsenic levels have been linked to certain cancers as well as immune system, endocrine, and neurological problems.

I guess now we know why the Colonel is so anxious to keep his recipe a secret.

Written by Alisa Mullins

"The first rule of Fight Club is: You do not talk about Fight Club." If, however, the fight club involves forcing mice to battle one another in a stupid and barbaric experiment, you know we're going to talk about it.

Recently, vivisectors at the University of Wisconsin–Madison (sheep abuse ring a bell?) studied the effect of brawling on chemicals in the brain by creating a fighting tournament for mice. In the experiment, pairs of male mice were provoked into fighting while spectators experimenters watched. The "winning" mice didn't actually win: After three consecutive victories, they were killed and their brains were cut up.

Making unwilling participants fight in staged matches? Sounds more like Gladiator than Fight Club to me. Or a laboratory version of dogfighting in which our tax dollars fund the fights and the perpetrators are called "Doctor" instead of Michael Vick.

Forcing rodents to rumble is only the tip of the animal-testing iceberg. Anything goes in U.S. laboratories. Tens of millions of mice are burned, poisoned, cut open, and killed in laboratory experiments each year. There are no federal laws protecting mice (or rats, birds, or cold-blooded animals, for that matter) in laboratories, so these animals are often forced to endure excruciating experiments without being given any pain relief at all.

Mice are smart, sensitive, affectionate animals who feel pain and deserve consideration. To learn more about these exceptional animals, watch our video Who Cares About Mice and Rats?

Let's fight for the rights of mice and take action against cruel animal experiments today!

Written by Amy Skylark Elizabeth

We've never understood why any child needs to poke around inside an amphibian, but holy "Jumping Frogs of Calaveras County": iTunes now offers a virtual frog dissection iPad app! In honor of this sophisticated and humane alternative to dissection, PETA is presenting its creator, Emantras Interactive Technologies, with a Mark Twain Ethical Science Award.

Every year, millions of frogs, cats, pigs, and other animals suffer and are killed for dissection even though modern non-animal teaching methods such as interactive computer programs are educationally superior, more economical, and safer (do you really want your kid handling formaldehyde?). Now, thanks to Emantras' new app—which can be downloaded on iTunes for $4.99—students who are lucky enough to own iPads can use touch-enabled virtual dissection tools to explore and manipulate a frog's organs in 3D.

PETA's Mark Twain Ethical Science Award recognizes its namesake's staunch opposition to the abuse of animals in experiments. Hailed as America's first animal advocate, Twain said of animal experimentation, "The pains which it inflicts upon unconsenting animals is the basis of my enmity towards it, and it is to me sufficient justification of the enmity without looking further."

Teaching students anatomy without harming animals? We think Mark Twain would approve. And thanks to the award, media outlets are abuzz about this new leap toward keeping classrooms cruelty-free. So how about channeling your inner Twain and taking action to cut out dissection? While you're doing that, I'm going to light up my corn-cob pipe and while away the afternoon dreaming about how much iWant an iPad.

Written by Amy Skylark Elizabeth

Here's something you won't hear too often: Austrian nuns opened a health spa to raise money for their convent after their chicken farm "fell flat." The nuns even use high-pressure hoses to spray chilled water at guests to stimulate their skin. The whole thing might not sound very conventional (there's no buff masseuse in a muscle shirt), but, hey, it's better than a chicken-breeding business. You go, sisters!

Perhaps they'll inspire the monks at Our Lady of Calvary Abbey, a monastery in Canada, to shut down their despicable factory farm and open a Jazzercise club—or at least switch to some other non-animal venture, such as making preserves, brewing beer, or growing vegetables. The monks at Mepkin Abbey made the compassionate decision to shut down their egg-laying operation and start growing oyster mushrooms following a PETA investigation.

So before you post a comment about the church's massage technique (you know you want to), please take a moment to urge the monks at Our Lady of Calvary to follow the example of their brothers at Mepkin and their sisters at Marienkron and convert to a humane alternative.

Thanks to David Best for sending this story our way.

Written by Heather Moore

Many Canadians are against their country's annual seal slaughter—the biggest massacre of marine mammals in the world—but the Canadian government has yet to put a stop to it. Not only is the government supporting the barbaric acts of bludgeoning and shooting baby seals, it is also spending taxpayer dollars to do so. Canadians, it's your home and your hard-earned money, and we need you to speak up for seals now.

The Parliament of Canada needs to hear from Canadians who don't want this massacre to go on. Let's keep the ice floes (and Canada's hands) blood-free, shall we? We've created a call log that you can use to ask your members of Parliament to support Senator Mac Harb's bill, which would end the barbaric seal slaughter.

Download the log here and get a "No Fur" pin if you get 10 of your friends, family members, or coworkers to make a brief call. When you've filled out a call log sheet, e-mail a scanned copy to ActionTeam@PETA.org or send it to the address below. Make sure to include your full name, address, and phone number along with the completed call log:

Action Team501 Front St.
Norfolk, VA 23510
USA

It's easy for the Canadian Parliament to ignore this bloodshed because it doesn't see its country's ice stained red. This is your chance to show Parliament the reality behind the massacre.

It's summertime, and the living is easy—unless you're an animal who's killed for the grill. No one wants to be butchered, basted, and barbequed. For the love of hogs, let's kick this barbeque season off right by helping men kick their meat habit! And how better to do that than with John Joseph's book Meat Is for Pussies: A How-To Guide for Dudes Who Want to Get Fit, Kick Ass, and Take Names.

If the title doesn't grab your attention, then the subject matter will. More of a boot-camp type of book than a beach read, Joseph makes men face the horrors of factory farming before outlining a plan to guide guys toward a happier, healthier, and more humane lifestyle. Can you say cruelty-free cook-out?

C'mon, you know you want to win this must-read for men. So guys, tell us why you need this book. Ladies, tell us how your brother, father, boyfriend, next-door neighbor, or any guy in your life can benefit from it. The three people who leave comments that most make us want to whip a guy into shape will win a copy of this aptly titled how-to guide.

Here are the deets: The contest ends on June 9, 2010, and we'll pick the winners on June 11, 2010. Be sure to read our privacy policy and terms and conditions, as you're agreeing to both by commenting.

Good luck!

Written by Amy Skylark Elizabeth