Barilla Pasta has announced it’s switching to cage-free eggs for 45% of its eggs by the end of 2011, Treehugger reports.

A cage-free environment allows the hen to do many of its natural behaviors, such as nesting and spreading wings, and therefore is said to lessen stress on the animal. Just imagine yourself not being able to scratch that area or, ahem, adjust yourself when the moment is right because you share space so cramped with other humans.

However, as the Humane Society notes, cage-free is not entirely cruelty free.

If you’re a man-chick (no, that’s not a slang term for that cross-dressing NYPD police officer), you’re killed as soon as you’re hatched because you can’t lay eggs and are of no economic use to the farmers.

Cage-free hens still have their beaks cut, and are slaughtered at around half their normal lifespan.

Many pastas, including some made by Barilla, are completely egg-less, taking your next marinara dish a step higher on the ethical notch.

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