YORKSHIRE EGG PRODUCER CALLS FOR DEDICATED FREE-RANGE PACK HOUSES TO PROTECT CONSUMERS

A leading Yorkshire egg producer is calling for a shake-up in the egg packing industry in the wake of revelations that consumers may have been sold millions of bogus free-range eggs.

The Thirsk-based James Potter Farmhouse brand of free-range and organic eggs is launching a campaign to make it obligatory for all egg packing stations in the UK to be restricted to handle either free-range or indoor (battery and barn) eggs, but not both.

“Of the 16 or so major packers, only four are dedicated exclusively to free-range eggs, while the rest can take in both types. We do not believe that this is a satisfactory safeguard for the consumer,” says Adrian Potter, sales director of the family firm that supplies supermarkets Sainsbury, Tesco and ASDA.

“As the largest dedicated producer and packer of Lion quality free-range and organic eggs in Yorkshire, we have always felt it necessary to exclude all other types of eggs from our pack house. It is our way of ensuring that consumers can be confident in what they are buying.”

He urges consumers not to be put off buying free-range or organic eggs by the recent reports of alleged mis-packaging. “Regional brands complying with the Beic Lion Quality, RSPCA’s Freedom Food, Soil Association and Organic Farmers & Growers organic standards are the best assurance you can have that the eggs in the box are what they say they are on the label.

“The same goes for the recent concern over the risk of salmonella in imported eggs. Home-grown eggs showing the Lion label are regularly tested along with the birds and the houses they live in. We have had a clean sheet since we started production nearly 25 years ago.”

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