Australia's consumer affairs ministers have agreed to develop a draft National Information Standard for free-range eggs.
The CSIRO's current model code of practice recommends a maximum of 1,500 birds per hectare, but the NSW Fair Trading recently found that farms carrying the free-range label were commonly stocked at 20,000 chickens per hectare.
Currently only Queensland and the ACT have free-range standards for and currently there is no enforceable national standard, but a voluntary industry code allows stocking densities of up to 20,000 birds per hectare.
Consumer group Choice the development of the draft standard was great news for consumers who had been paying a premium for dodgy free-range eggs for far too long.
Choice lodged a super complaint to NSW Fair Trading last year that many products labelled ‘free-range’ and attracting a premium price on the back of the claim did meet the existing voluntary definition.
Choice director of campaigns and communications, Matt Levey, said it was great to see the law will finally be laid down on what ‘free-range’ really means, and Choice congratulated NSW Fair Trading for leading the process.
“The crucial next step is ensuring the new standard reflects consumers’ expectations and the best advice of animal welfare experts, ensuring it is not only nationally consistent and enforceable, but meaningful,” Levey said.
