Intensive 'free range'egg production is a con in Australia

Major grocery retailers in Britain announced last year that they were moving away from caged eggs from 2025.The British Free Range Egg and Poultry Association says there had been a general misunderstanding that this meant eggs from caged hens would be replaced with free-range. However, BFREPA says that retailers intend to meet their commitments by shifting to eggs produced in barn systems. It says this will be more cost-effective and help supermarkets to deliver a “value” product. It’s completely different here in Australia where politicians caved in to industry pressure and are allowing eggs from intensive farms to be labelled as free range.

Stupidmarkets' egg price war

The major Australian supermarkets, Coles, Woolworths and Aldi are taking advantage of consumers, thanks to Ministers for Consumer Affairs allowing intensively produced eggs to be labelled as 'free range'. After caving-in to corporate lobbyists, the Ministers allowed eggs produced on intensive, industrial-scale facilities to be sold as free range. In the supermarkets, customers may as well buy the cheapest eggs available, because they are all basically the same.There is no point in looking on supermarket shelves if anyone wishes to buy genuine free range eggs- the labels are meaningless. Buy them direct from a farm that you know. The big retailers make a killing whatever you buy.They are great place to buy household items like toilet paper, toothpaste, washing powder and soap - but it's a mystery why anyone buys fresh food there. Food is usually better value at butchers, fishmongers, greengrocers etc.