From Thursday, stores across Australia will face strict new rules when it comes to free-range eggs.
As more people across the country continue to push for animal rights, The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is cracking down on brands that wrongly label egg products as “free range”.
Under the new standards, any eggs considered free range must have been laid by hens that had sufficient and regular access to outdoor areas during both daylight and nighttime. The hens must also have been given freedom to roam and forage outdoors, and must have been subject to a stocking density of 10,000 hens or less per hectare. In addition, cartons must now prominently label this information.
ACCC Chairman Rod Sims said shoppers needed to know the truth when it came to free-range eggs.
“Shoppers are willing to pay a premium for free-range eggs, but only if the chickens genuinely have regular access to an outdoor range,” he said in a statement. “From April 26, free range must only be used by compliant egg producers so consumers can have confidence in the products they are buying.”
Egg producers are also advised not to mislead shoppers.
“If egg producers use images, pictures, or words, other than free range, that imply their eggs are free range when they are not, this would likely raise concerns under the Australian Consumer Law,” Sims added. “The ACCC is monitoring the market to ensure that free range claims are truthful and accurate and will continue to take action against those that don’t.”
Egg producers had several months to adjust their packaging, signage and advertising material before the new standard kicked in, meaning some of the brands you love may look a little different on supermarket shelves.
The changes come after the ACCC found a number of iconic brands were misleading customers about the hens’ living conditions and quality of life. In 2016, Free Range Eggs Farms, the brand behind Ecoeggs, Port Stephans and Field Fresh, was fined $300,000 for sourcing eggs from farms that didn’t let chickens roam freely. In addition, the company was also found guilty of promoting their eggs as free range in advertisements and on social media, even though some of the birds were unable to move freely in ranges.
Not only did this raise questions over the premium price people pay for the eggs, but also for the wellbeing of the hens laying the eggs. Aldi Stores across the nation were also caught up in a scandal in 2016, after shoppers noticed stores only sold caged eggs. Following online backlash, Aldi said it will slowly stop offering caged eggs and by 2025, they would be completely gone.