Thursday, June 09, 2011

New FSANZ egg standards to include egg stamping

The new egg standards being introduced by Food Standards Australia and New New Zealand (FSANZ) includes a requirement for all eggs to carry a stamp identifying which farm they are from.
The big operators don't care, they have all the equipment standing by and all they have to do is push a button.
The small operators (like us) don't really mind - it just adds to the daily grind. When I say we don't mind too much - that is as long as the rule applies to everyone selling eggs. Backyard operators who have no idea of food safety procedures are the biggest threat to consumers and if they sell eggs they should have to meet all the same standards.
It's the mid sized operators who are squealing loudest about egg stamping and claiming that it will cost them $20,000 - $30,000 to implement. What they are really worried about is that stamping individual eggs will identify them and hamper egg substitution.
The Australian Egg Corporation could move to clean up the industry, and it will be interesting to see how it responds to the new FSANZ requirements which we are told will be implemented in 18 months. But the AECL usually closes its eyes to the reality of the egg industry, just lke the Meat and Livestock Corporation to the treatment of Australian cattle in Indonesian abattoirs.
AECL has admitted that currently some 'free range' egg producers have stocking densities of 40,000 birds per hectare even though the Model Code recommends a maximum density of 1500. Its only response has been to try to introduce a new standard which allows intensive farms to be called 'free range'.

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