Eggs

It is said that you learn something new everyday. Well from the news story that a businessman has been jailed for selling cheap imported caged eggs as Organic and Free Range, I learn how to discover if the eggs are from caged production. Under ultra violet light you can see the marks of the bars of the cage imprinted upon the shell. As I have an ultra violet lamp for another task, I was able to confirm this by taking it to the supermarket.

As I have been caught out myself by retailers who will tell lies about the origin of of the eggs, it is useful to have this extra tool. Back when I first moved to the village I live in, the local greengrocer was doing this. However, as I know the codes that tell you what method of production the eggs are from, I soon spotted this. Initially I was prepared to accept that this was a genuine mistake. Then I went to the store again and specifically asked if they had any free range eggs. The eggs however were stamped with the code that said they were caged eggs. What the owner of the shop told me though was extraordinary, he claimed it was a special code for local production. That was and is rubbish as the codes are an Europe wide system.

The matter was reported to the appropriate authorities and they got a heavy slap on the wrist, as this was not the first time they had been caught doing this. I have no idea if they still try to get away with this as I no longer will use the store. I am not the only person who shuns the store, I know that a significant portion of the village avoid using the village greengrocer too.

There will be some folks that do not understand why this really matters, as to them one egg is just the same as another. Well I can taste a difference and free range eggs do taste better. But the issue of the source of eggs matters because of public health. It does happen that eggs can become contaminated and with caged production there is a greater risk for this. Also if there were a recall where caged eggs were suspect, but barn or free range were known to be safe, it could mean that consumers would still eat contaminated eggs thinking them safe.

This is why the businessman who has been convicted was using imported eggs, as the systems within Europe just made it impossible to fool the system and commit the fraud using eggs from inside the European Union.

As a result of this case though, the various bodies that regulate the egg industry have put in place extra measures and checks to close the loopholes that were exploited. Additionally, the supermarkets and major retailers have ensured that this will never happen again.