Ryan Gosling has criticised retail giant Costco for selling eggs laid by chickens confined in ''filth-laden cages''.

The 'Crazy, Stupid, Love' actor is appalled with the US company for taking produce from suppliers who keep their animals in ''abhorrent'' conditions and he has written a letter of complaint to the company's CEO Craig Jelinek.

The living standards for the chickens were uncovered by The Humane Society of the United States in an undercover investigation into standards.

Gosling's letter reads: ''I am writing today about the recent undercover investigation conducted by my friends at The Humane Society of the United States at a Costco egg supplier. Video footage revealed abhorrent cruelty including rows upon rows of birds confined in filth-laden cages with the mummified corpses of their cage-mates.

''Eating, sleeping, defecating, and laying eggs on top of dead birds ... and hens' wings, legs, and necks trapped in the corroded wires of their battery cages.''

Gosling - who has baby daughter Esmeralda with his partner Eva Mendes - also blasted Costco for selling eggs with deceptive packaging, which implies the animals have good lives.

He wants the company to adopt a policy of selling only cage-free eggs.

His letter continued: ''Furthermore, it is appalling that Costco has been selling these eggs with deceptive labelling on cartons featuring graphics of birds living out in a green pasture.

''You're already eliminating cages for veal calves and pigs - don't you feel that chickens also deserve the same mercy?''

Costco previously announced its intention to stock only cage-free eggs back in 2007 but the policy is yet to come into effect.