The move is McDonald’s latest step to provide consumers with locally and responsibly-sourced food on the High Street, and to continue supporting British and Irish farmers.

McDonald’s will become the UK’s second biggest buyer of Freedom Food pork and all sausage and bacon on its menu, from the popular breakfast McMuffins through to the bacon in premium salads and promotional burgers, will be from Freedom Food-approved farms.

From the end of April, all pig farmers that supply McDonald’s will be required to provide bright, airy environments for pigs, bedded pens and plenty of space for them to move around.

Since McDonald’s worked with its suppliers to make the switch to free-range eggs 15 years ago, the free-range egg market has quadrupled in size. Currently, almost one third of British pig farmers meet the requirements of the RSPCA’s Freedom Food scheme and McDonald’s hopes its support for this higher-welfare standard will attract more farmers to adopt Freedom Food standards on their farms.

Warren Anderson, vice president for supply chain at McDonald’s UK, commented: “As a big customer of British and Irish farming, we are committed to using our scale to drive positive changes such as improvements in welfare standards. Not only will our move to Freedom Food pork make it easier for people to make affordable, ethical choices on the high street, we hope that more of Britain’s pig producers will have the confidence to invest in the future and adopt the RSPCA’s higher-welfare standards on their farms.”

McDonald’s serves 100% British and Irish beef, 100% Freedom Food pork from British farms and free-range eggs on its UK menu. Other ethically-sourced menu choices include Rainforest Alliance-certified coffee and tea served with organic milk from UK dairies.