Consultation aiming to crack eggs conundrum

The government is to address a reallife chicken and egg conundrum with the launch of a consultation on its plans to reform the labelling requirements for eggs should another avian flu “flockdown” be declared.

The reforms to the Egg Marketing Standards Regulation hope to circumvent problems caused by the red tape surrounding the labelling of free-range eggs.

While there’s no enforced lockdown of birds in operation at the moment, hen keepers – from the biggest commercial units producing thousands of eggs a day to those with a pair of backyard bantams – have been keeping a close eye on seasonal upturn in cases which tends to occur during the winter months.

The past few years have seen the government enforce measures to keep all hens with the adoption of tight biosecurity measures in an attempt to reduce the spread of the disease, in much the same way as lockdown saw the human population locked into their houses.

And while the precaution was widely complied with by the industry, the housing requirement had considerable implications for free-range producers – who, by the “does what it says on the tin” definition, have to give their hens the opportunity to get outside and range freely.

Well, there was a bit of a let-out clause that allowed them to be kept inside for a certain period in exceptional circumstances such as the threat of severe disease outbreak.

However, the housing restrictions often lasted longer than the 16-week derogation allowed.

As a result, producers could no longer market their eggs under the “freerange” banner and had to sell them as “barn” eggs, a move which not only confused shoppers but also had considerable cost implications for producers.

The plan is, however, to allow free-range eggs to be marketed as such for the duration of any mandatory housing measures in England and Scotland – a proposal which has been very much welcomed by egg producers, who have faced a tough few years.

The highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 is now a global threat to the poultry sector – and the scale of outbreaks in recent years across the UK and Europe has been unprecedented, with more than 360 cases confirmed across Great Britain since late October 2021.

But with only a handful of cases recorded so far this winter, the media seems to have lost interest in previous year’s stories of threats, not only to eggs but to turkey for Christmas – despite the fact that the threat is ever-present.

It’s a long way from the night back in 2006 when a single dead swan washed up at Cellardyke in Fife was believed to have the disease. A massive overreaction saw national and international news teams broadcast live from the quiet village and created an air of panic as the country waited with baited breath for the result of the tests.

But while the hysteria died down, bird flu had come to stay – and recent years have seen national housing rules exceed the 16-week derogation period granted to free-range producers, leading to significant additional costs for producers as egg packaging had to be changed to comply with legislation.

With the vast majority of eggs produced in the UK now meeting free-range standards, the sector is crucial to meeting the welfare demands of consumers. And, following warnings from the Food Standards Agency about the risk of salmonella in imported eggs last month, the importance of maintaining a supply of healthy eggs from hens in the UK has been realised by consumers.

This is especially so after price pressure from supermarkets and the catering sector saw a large number leave the industry over the past couple of years as they struggled to compete with cheap imports and to cover skyrocketing feed and energy bills.

Let’s just hope the proposal can help crack the problem for hardpressed free-range egg producers.

AM-HEN: A proposal to allow free-range eggs to be marketed as such during a ‘flockdown’ has been welcomed.