New standards don't lift free range egg numbers in the marketplace

The Australian Government's standards for free range egg labelling do nothing to meet consumer expectations about what 'free range' means. They certainly don't increase the numbers of free range eggs in the marketplace. They simply protect unscrupulous operators from prosecution by the ACCC when they label intensively produced eggs as 'free range'. The guidelines allow an outdoor stocking density of 10,000 hens per hectare which is many times the limits of land sustainability – or of consumer expectations.