'Free range eggs' definition scrambled
Date
July 29, 2013
The term ‘free range’ tends to invoke images of chickens happily squawking and scratching their way across green pastures.
The reality is often a lot less romantic.
The Queensland government recently approved an increase in the stocking densities for free range layer hens. Where once 1500 chickens per hectare was the maximum, now 10,000 chickens per hectare can claim the same label.
A spokesman for agricultural minister John McVeigh defended the 567 per cent increase as being based on the national Poultry Code “which state governments agreed to implement in 2002”.
But it could be a boon for marketers, who are still legally able to use the term ‘free range’ to sell eggs from operations which can increase their layer numbers, without having to increase the provided space.
Queensland University of Technology marketing lecturer, Gary Mortimer, said when it came to “low involvement decisions”, like those made in the supermarket, terms like free range could often make up minds.
“In a supermarket we don’t want to take a lot of time, we see the word free – no matter what words come after, we tend to think ‘free range’ and that it must be good,” he Dr Mortimer.
“Consumers need to be a little more careful with some of the marketing messages they see on products today.”
Australian Greens animal welfare spokesperson Senator Lee Rhiannon said Queenslanders needed to understand what they were buying.
“There is nothing free range about 10,000 hens per hectare, she said.
“As a society we need to be moving towards policies that protect the welfare of animals, not ones that will lead to increased distress, fear, injury, pain and disease.”
Campaigns director of the consumer group Choice, Matt Levey said the Queensland government amendments to the Animal Care and Protection Regulation 2012 Act, jeopardised shopper’s trust.
"Consumers have shown they are willing to pay a premium for 'free-range' eggs and yet changes like this make the term meaningless," he said.
But not all marketing terms are used legally - earlier this month, the federal court ruled in favour of the Australian Consumer Commission, which took two of the nation’s largest poultry producers to task for using the term ‘free to roam”, when in reality, almost 20 chickens were being kept per square metre.
While marketers would continue “greying the boundaries”, Dr Mortimer said it came down to self-education and consumers doing their own research.
“To some extent the majority of consumers will still look at brand and the price to make a decision,” he said.
“But there is certainly a growing range of ethical consumers who look a little more deeply at organics, genetically modified, free range, hormone free products, not just for the humane reasons, but also for the health and well being of family and children as well.”
Read more: http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/free-range-eggs-definition-scrambled-20130728-2qshq.html#ixzz2aTKQPggr
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