POPULAR restaurant chains and supermarkets are still using eggs from caged hens to make own-brand products, new research has revealed.

According to The Mirror, tonight's episode of Jamie and Jimmy's Friday Night feast on Channel 4, will divulge that caged eggs are used more commonly than shoppers may think.

3 Eggs from caged hens are still being used by restaurants and supermarkets Credit: Getty - Contributor

And it's not just eggs you buy on the shelves - it's the eggs that go in everything from pork pies to cakes to mayonnaise.

The show, which is fronted by chef Jamie Oliver and farmer Jimmy Doherty, found that the following restaurants use eggs from caged hens: Bella Italia, Brewer’s Fayre, Cafe Nero, Cafe Rouge, Costa, Frankie & Benny’s, Garfunkel’s, La Tasca, Pizza Hut, Yo Sushi!, and Zizzi.

While, famous confectionery brands Krispy Kreme and McVities also use eggs from cage hens.

And it doesn't stop there, the programme also found that the following supermarket and hotel chains use eggs from caged hens: Aldi, Asda, Holiday Inn, Lidl, Morrisons, Spar and Tesco.

3 Jimmy Doherty and Jamie Oliver are joined by actress Jodie Whittaker on Friday Night Dinners Credit: Channel 4

Jammy and Jimmy are now campaigning for retailers and restaurants to give customers clear information about where the eggs in their shopping really come from.

Using battery hens was banned in the UK in 2012 but the animals are still allowed to be kept in larger cages holding up to 90 birds at a time known as "enriched cages" or as "colony eggs".

Unless eggs are organic, there is also a risk that hens farmed for their eggs may have their beaks trimmed to prevent pecking, according to the British Hen Welfare Trust.

The charity's "Hidden Eggs" campaign is aimed at raising awareness of eggs in processed foods.

It said: "If you’re one of the 60 per cent of shoppers who makes sure their half a dozen eggs are of the free range kind, you may be disappointed to learn your cakes, quiches and sauces might not be quite so welfare-friendly."

How do I know how my egg has been farmed? ACCORDING to the British Lion kitemark organisation, here's how to know where your eggs have been farmed: 0 - Organic

1 - Free range

2 - Barn

3 - Cage If eggs have the British Lion Mark on them it means they've come from hens that have been vaccinated against salmonella and produced to a "strict" code of practice.

According to the charity, of the 10.782billion eggs laid in the UK in 2017, 55 per cent made it onto supermarket shelves, meaning the other 45 per cent - which includes both free range and caged eggs - were used by supermarkets and restaurants.

But times are changing; the programme found that Sainsbury’s uses a mix of barn and free-range eggs, while M&S, The Co-op and Waitrose only use free-range eggs in their own brand products.

And others are taking note. Cafe Nero told The Sun that the whole eggs used in its savoury products are 100 per cent free-range, while all own brand products will be cage-free by 2021.

3 Many retailers are now promising to use free-range eggs by 2025 Credit: E+ - Getty

Frankie & Benny’s and Garfunkels said its shell eggs and mayonnaise is from cage-free sources but adds that all eggs used will be cage-free by the end of 2023.

Lidl said that all shell eggs and eggs used in ingredients will be cage-free by 2025.

Krispy Kreme said it will move to 100 per cent cage-free, free range, eggs in the UK and Ireland by next month.

McVities added that it will only use eggs laid by cage-free hens in all its products by 2025.

Morrisons said all its shell eggs will be cage-free by 2022, while all eggs used in its own brand products will be cage-free by 2025.

A Pizza Hut spokesperson told us that all eggs used will be cage-free by 2020.

Spar said all its eggs and products including eggs will be cage-free by 2025.

The Casual Dining Group, which includes Bella Italia, Café Rouge and La Tasca, uses free-range shell eggs at present and said it will move completely free-range across all products by 2025.

Whitbread, which owns Brewers Fayre, told us its shell eggs are already cage-free, while eggs used as an ingredient will be cage free by 2025.

Zizzi said its whole eggs are free range, as are some eggs used as ingredients in sauces and desserts. But it said it will go completely free range by 2020.

The Sun has contacted all of the retailers listed in this article but at the time of writing has only had a response from the above.

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