Shoppers seek out free-range eggs

Animal welfare campaigners say moves towards banning battery egg production are too slow. Photo / Herald on Sunday

Animal rights campaigners say law-makers are dragging their feet over banning what they label as cruel caged egg farming.

Competition in the $280 million industry is fierce, with battery hen egg producers arguing that prices will soar if they are forced to abandon cages.

One major free-range egg producer says some farmers are cramming 15,000 to 20,000 birds in a shed and marketing the eggs as free range rather than barn eggs.

Those campaigning to ban battery farming say cheap eggs come at the expense of the welfare of the birds, which are kept in cramped conditions and are unable to roam, fly, nest or dust bathe - all natural habits.

The National Animal Welfare Advisory Committee (Nawac) stopped short of banning caged egg farming when it drew up the "layer hen" code of welfare in 2005. Instead, it increased the minimum floor space by 50sq cm to 550sq cm per bird (an A4 piece of paper is 619sq cm).

Nawac acknowledged caged egg farming did not comply with the Animal Welfare Act and said it wanted cages phased out, once a suitable economically viable alternative was found. It put the issue on the backburner for five years, saying it would review the code this year.

Nawac chairman Dr Peter O'Hara could not be reached for comment, but a Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry spokeswoman said public consultation on the code revision would begin next year.

In the meantime, consumers are voting with their wallets, paying up to four times more for free-range eggs than caged eggs.

But free-range producer Graeme Carrie said some eggs sold as free-range were barn eggs. Some operators had huge sheds holding up to 20,000 birds with little access to holes to get out, and little space outside. Those birds spent their entire lives inside the shed.

A Herald on Sunday shopping expedition showed egg prices ranged from 23c each to $1.14, depending on size and production method.

Of the 993 million eggs produced this year, roughly 40 per cent will sell in supermarkets, 45 per cent in other outlets and restaurants and 15 per cent in the commercial industry.

Caged eggs still hold 85 per cent of the market, based on price, but free-range producers are increasing their share by about 1 per cent a year.

Supermarket sales of free-range eggs increased by 49 per cent in the year to September, grabbing a 12 per cent share of the market. Barn eggs took a 5 per cent share (down 1 per cent) and organic eggs had a 2 per cent share (up 10 per cent).

Professor Ravi Ravindram, of Massey University's Institute of Food, Nutrition and Human Health, said there was no nutritional difference between caged and free-range eggs. "The difference is in the welfare of the bird."

Nor does the dark yolk of a free-range egg mean much. Ravindram said all chicken farmers could darken the yolk by adding an ingredient (often taken from marigolds) to the chicken feed.

Carrie and other free-range producers say the definition of free range is too loose.

Carrie, managing director of Frenz, which has 20 free-range egg farms, said he had been lobbying for years to get a free-range code written and certification established.

Until then, Frenz abides by a self-written code - no more than 1500 birds in a flock, no more than 350 birds to an acre (865 per hectare) and paddock rotation so the birds always have access to fresh grass. Frenz also bans beak trimming.

Michael Brooks, executive director of the Egg Producers' Federation, said he had heard allegations that some free-range birds were confined to sheds but had never found any evidence. But the federation agrees rules regarding free-range eggs need tightening.

The SPCA runs an accreditation system based on an annual check, but only three brands are SPCA approved.

The SPCA has also been lobbying the poultry industry to tighten its definition of free-range, because, said one industry observer, "Not all free-range eggs are equal".

And nor are all "organic" eggs. Scientist Karyne Rogers and her team at the National Isotope Centre, at GNS Science, in Lower Hutt have developed a technique to tell the difference between eggs from cage, barn, free-range and organic farms by measuring the nitrogen isotopes found in the whites.

This year she detected evidence that two organically produced egg brands were not using 100 per cent organic food.

* Eggy tips

The egg white (albumen) is the healthier part of the egg. The white is high in protein whereas the egg yolk has more fat and cholesterol.

Healthwise, eating an egg a day is fine unless you have a genetic problem in processing cholesterol.

Eggs should be kept in a cool place and used within two weeks. They can be kept longer if stored in the fridge.

A fresh egg less than a week old will have a thick white with a yolk that sits evenly on top when cracked open.

As the egg ages, the egg white will become runnier.

Salmonella is not a problem in New Zealand eggs, so raw eggs can be eaten safely.

Don't wash an egg to remove farm dirt until you intend to use it because once the protective coating has been removed, the egg will spoil quickly.

- HERALD ON SUNDAY