Last week, Burger King committed to purchasing 2 percent of its eggs from suppliers that do not keep animals in crates or cages -- a move the Humane Society of Penn State said the university should think about following.

Emily Spivak, president of the Humane Society of Penn State (HSPS), said that she was surprised to hear about the fast-food chain's switch to cage-free eggs and hoped it would make Penn State reconsider alternatives.

"It's really admirable that they're taking the lead among fast-food restaurants," Spivak said. "If Burger King can do it, it's very practical that Penn State could do it as well."

However, Penn State Food Services will not be using cage-free eggs anytime soon, Director of Residential Dining Lisa Wandel said.

"It's not something we've been discussing lately," Wandel said. "We just haven't changed our minds."

The HSPS introduced an online petition in August 2006 asking the university to switch from battery-cage eggs to cage-free eggs from local farmers.

The petition for cage-free eggs is open to all Penn State students, staff and faculty, Spivak said.

The group has plans to present the online petition to Penn State Housing and Food Services in the future.

"The petition is ongoing," Spivak said. "We don't have any set goals, but we're looking for a couple thousand [signatures]."

However, there has not been much demand from students to prompt a change, Wandel said.

"We do online student surveys every fall and every spring," Wandel said. "Out of the 13,000 students who were sent the survey, not one came back with a request for cage-free eggs."

According to the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), dozens of schools have enacted policies to eliminate or greatly reduce the use of eggs from caged hens, including schools like Georgetown University, Washington University and Vassar College.

Spivak said she thinks that Penn State will eventually be persuaded to make the switch to cage-free eggs because of the influences of other schools, who are already using them.

"A lot of other universities have changed," Spivak said. "The list is growing every month, and there are one or two more universities that are switching. Penn State will have to keep up."

Students would have to pay more for their meal plans because cage-free eggs are normally more expensive than regular eggs, Wandel said, adding that she is not convinced that they are that much better for the hens.

"I don't think cage-free eggs are fault-free. There are so many other issues with that," Wandel said. "If they're outside, they're susceptible to carnivore animals or the spread of disease."

Paul Patterson, professor of poultry science and extension poultry specialist for the commercial agriculture industry, said an advantage of caged hens is the birds are in a controlled environment.

"They don't have access to the outdoors, where you may have raccoons and rodents and things like that," Patterson said, adding that these animals could be a source of disease for the hens.

Patterson said that the market for cage-free and organic eggs is growing, but there are no major differences between regular and cage-free eggs.

He added that there are also no food safety issues associated with either type of eggs.

"I don't think the value is there for consumers," Patterson said. "These [cage-free eggs] are not any higher quality, according to USDA standards."