Free-range eggs back on shelves

FREE-RANGE eggs will return to UK supermarket shelves after ministers decided to scrap measures introduced to curb bird flu cases.

From next Monday, poultry and other captive birds will no longer need to be housed, unless they are in a protection zone, and will be allowed to be kept outside.

For the past few months, free-range eggs had to have stickers or labels marking them as ‘barn eggs’. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs introduced the measures in late November following an outbreak of avian flu.

The Food Standards Agency advises that avian influenza poses a very low food safety risk for consumers, and it has not changed its advice on the consumption of poultry products.