Consumer needs 'put last' as 'free range' egg boycott continues

Consumer advocacy group Choice will continue to push the government for 'real change' on free range egg standards to protect shoppers from 'fake' products.

File image of a shopper inspecting eggs inside a grocery store

File image of a shopper inspecting eggs inside a grocery store Source: AAP

Choice head of policy Erin Turner told SBS its campaign urging consumers to boycott 19 egg brands would continue indefinitely.

The boycott was called in March when consumer affairs ministers announced a national information standard for free-range egg production, which recommended that farmers label their eggs 'free range' should they run no more than 10,000 hens per hectare.

The 10,000 figure was also the recommendation in the Australian Treasury's  in November.
But Choice contests that 'free range' labeling should only be used by egg producers who run no more than 1500 hens per hectare, a figure recommended by the CSIRO.

"We definitely need to continue with the boycott until real changes are made," Ms Turner said.

"The government are hoping that this boycott quietly goes away. We won’t let it do that.

"The draft standard they have put out for free range eggs is going to protect farmers from federal court action for selling eggs as free range, when they’re not really, while reducing consumer protection.

“It’s setting in stone the status quo that really puts consumer needs last."

Ms Turner said the boycott was one of the biggest campaigns Choice had run in its 57-year history, with more than 26,000 people signing an .

She said the group's phone app, which lets shoppers scan the barcode of egg cartons to determine the number of hens per hectare, had been downloaded more than 50,000 times since its introduction.

"The app is seeing more than 2600 scans every day," she said.

"Supermarkets have been suspiciously silent on this issue. I think they are hoping to continue to flog what they've been flogging - which is fake free range eggs. They are definitely hoping the boycott isn't successful.
"They (shoppers) are after specific information like 'what eggs to I avoid?' The industry is going to have to listen to what consumers want - not selling things that claim to be another. We won't stop until consumers are heard."

Public submissions in regards to the draft national standard closed on December 9, with the issue expected to raised again early next year.

"The government is currently considering the submissions received and will be looking to finalise the information standard in early 2017," a Treasury spokesman said.

Standards have had a 'detrimental effect'

Victorian free range producer  experienced a surge in profits during the early months of the boycott, and owner Julie Kos said it gave smaller producers hope to be able to compete in the industry.

But she said the lack of any meaningful free range egg standard meant that 'genuine' producers faced an uphill climb.

"The boycott itself was good for our business, what it's done is make people realise. But the new [draft] legislation has not been good," she told SBS.

"I try to sell my eggs, and I'm competing with people that are charging a third less because they're not doing it the way I'm doing it. You're not comparing apples with apples."

Ms Kos slammed a provision in the draft standard which claimed that free range eggs are "laid by hens that had meaningful and regular access to an outdoor range during daylight hours".

"They talk about the outside density rate, but nobody talks about the inside of the sheds at night," she said.

"That's a big point of difference for us because at the moment, what they're doing is saying 'if you've got 750 birds per hectare outside', inside they could have them crammed in like you wouldn't believe.

"The more you have in the shed, the more stressful it is for the chicken."

Ms Kos said the situation forced her to expand her company's range to include the production of smoked eggs.

Choice has afor eggs on its website.

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4 min read
Published 23 December 2016 1:00pm
By Peter Theodosiou


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