Crackdown on battery eggs sold as free range

Eggs from battery hens advertised as free-range or barn-raised have been found on the shelves of high street stores by consumer watchdogs, a new report has revealed. Trading standards officers tested 50 eggs from different retailers and found that 19 – almost 40% – of these failed in quality and labelling. The scale of the fraud, revealed by Derbyshire county council , raises disturbing questions about the UK's egg industry. During the recent investigation, trading standards officers checked 50 eggs – including nine described as being from caged birds, 39 claiming to be free-range, one barn-raised and one organic. Of those, 19 eggs failed. Officers also found that 11 of the eggs were wrongly labelled, four did not meet quality standards and two were not the required weight under the Food Safety Act. Various techniques were used to test the eggs, including shining an ultra-violet light to show up marks on the shells of eggs claiming to be free-range, which proved they were laid in cages. A light was also used to test their quality by checking the size of the air space – older eggs have bigger air spaces. As a result of the investigation, trading standards officers issued advice to help nine businesses in Derbyshire stick to the law. Other cases have been referred to the Egg Marketing Inspectorate, part of the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs . Derbyshire is home to 857 egg producers. Nationally, the egg industry in the UK is estimated to be worth £1bn a year.