If introduced, the statute will outlaw the sale of eggs produced by hens in battery cages, labelled inhumane by the national welfare organisation.

Alabama, Kentucky, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Iowa have filed a lawsuit attempting to block the contentious cages, currently the method used for 90 per cent of US eggs, according to the HSUS.

State legal action follows a prolonged period for cage adaption after a California passed a law opting to give all farm animals enough space to ‘extend their limbs’, the HSUS added.

However, many egg producers are non-compliant with the new welfare rules, instead resolving to reverse the decision.

A HSUS spokesperson said: "It’s just not appropriate to jam six or eight birds in tiny spaces so they cannot move.

“These states are trying to force their sub-standard eggs on California consumers, even though the California legislature has declared such eggs to be repugnant to the state’s values and a threat to public health.”

Michael Priestley