Supposedly Free Range eggs but caged from local butchers

elaine373

I would go back and say what has happened. It could be a mistake but the lat least the butcher woudl be more careful.
I bought 18 small free range eggs this week for £2, from Asda. Dont know if this is going to be a regular availability, but I will have another look this week.

jaxxy00

Been back and took my eggs. Luckily the same man who served me yesterday was in there today. I said to him that i thought there must be a mix up as the eggs i brought yesterday which should have been free range were actually caged eggs. He then said oh how do you know they are caged do they have it written on them!! :eek: I told him no, they have a code which tells me where they are from and the code on them tells me they are caged.

He then asked me if i wanted my money back, but i said that i would rather more eggs. We looked at what was left of the trays (loads had been sold since yesterday) and they were all stamped 3UK ........ meaning caged birds. I then asked if he had any others, which he did out the back but they were all the same. So i asked if they ever actually have free range and he said where they get them from, they are told they are free range. So he gave me my money back for the eggs and that was it.

I enquired about the free range chickens they sell, as i thought to myself, at least with an egg i can see the stamp but with a fresh chicken, i would have no idea if it was organic, free range, or where it was from. They have a booklet on the counter to show who supplies their fresh chickens (due to many people now questioning the source of chickens since the tv shows). The supplier who i have just looked up is https://www.crownchicken.co.uk and i have to say that with the quantitys they are producing etc, its certainly not the kind of place i would have expected my butcher to be getting fresh chickens from. After the experience with the eggs, unfirtunately i would not trust buying a chicken from there.

I will be returning in the week to see if they get free range eggs in. The sign above the eggs only say 80p half dozen or £1.50 a dozen. It doesnt state the type of egg. Only when you ask do you get told they are free range, or supposed to be anyway. This time though i will remember to look there and then at the code on them to see exactly what they are. I will keep you posted.

xlt_hunter

geordie_joe wrote: »

I normally assume that free range also means organic, but this may not be the case. I suppose you could keep hens in a cage and feed them organic food and not give them chemicals. You could also allow hens to run "free range" and give them chemicals to eat.

So how do you tell if a chicken, or egg is both free range and organic?

Do they have two stamps on them?

Yes your right Organic is Free Range as they both have access outdoor etc.. Think along the lines of Organic as a better product yet Free Range will just do the job. Compare it as something like Tesco Normal Brand and Tesco Finest Brand. With Organic they don't use feed that is made with ingredients from Farms that used chemicals on their land

With Eggs if its 0UK its Organic and Free Range (the organic part is the feed and treatment) If the egg is 1UK its Free Range with the babies in their feed/water and treatments

All organic egg farms started out as Organic then should anything happen like chemical treatment on the birds or something they istanty get downgraded to Free Range. Birds types are kept in seperate farms

I suppose you could keep hens in a cage and feed them organic food and not give them chemicals

Can't do this, as its aganist the wording of organic as the organic part has the element of Free Range in it. The birds must have access outside if Organic

xlt_hunter

jaxxy00 wrote: »

Been back and took my eggs. Luckily the same man who served me yesterday was in there today. I said to him that i thought there must be a mix up as the eggs i brought yesterday which should have been free range were actually caged eggs. He then said oh how do you know they are caged do they have

ooo he is walking on dodgy ground there - he should know what he is selling on the coding side, should he have a inspection by DEFRA they will throw the book at him for incorrect Marketing of the eggs. If he has a sign saying Fresh Eggs he could get away with it, if it say free range I would shop him to Trading Standards very quicky as he is ripping you off finically and morally as well (I trust you went into the bucter to buy "Free Range" egg)

I will be returning in the week to see if they get free range eggs in. The sign above the eggs only say 80p half dozen or £1.50 a dozen. It doesnt state the type of egg. Only when you ask do you get told they are free range, or supposed to be anyway. This time though i will remember to look there and then at the code on them to see exactly what they are. I will keep you posted.

Ah, just seen this bit of your post (but I thought I leave the other bit in IIRC if that is the case, he must display a sign next to the eggs to say what type the eggs are from. ie "Eggs from Caged Hens" is the legal wording IIRC. Or this:

List of Egg types:
0UKxxxxx = Organic
1UKxxxxx = Free Range
2UKxxxxx = Barn
3UKxxxxx = Cage

xxxxx = farm id number
UK = Country of farm

If he goes for the second bit above, then its up to the customer to read whats printed on the egg.

HTH

xlt_hunter

geordie_joe wrote: »

So how do you tell if a chicken, or egg is both free range and organic?

Do they have two stamps on them?

Re thinking about this again... I remember the time when this happened in the egg processing station that I was Quality controller at... Again, Organic is Organic and Free Range. And Free Range is just Free Range

At one point the egg would have been graded (means gone though the machine to be packed) and they stamp it with the farm code (a legal must!) came out like this

0UKxxxxx

As it was going onto trays to store for a day or two, they regraded it again when they needed to with this code (L)=Lion Picture

(L)Organic-0

BB 01 DEC (I made the date up)
They can do this.

However they can downgrade products from a higher product into a lower one, Ie Organic into Free Range, Free Range in to Cage etc.. but they can not go up ie Cage into Barn - if you did this, you would be writing a nice cheque to the UK Governement in terms of a fine or spending time in Jail. Should they choose to downgrade eggs they must have a sign on the packet of eggs to show the system types like:

List of Egg types:
0UKxxxxx = Organic
1UKxxxxx = Free Range
2UKxxxxx = Barn
3UKxxxxx = Cage

xxxxx = farm id number
UK = Country of farm

Next time your in Tescos or Sainsburys - have a look on the packet of Free Range eggs and find the egg picture with code of code writing on the label, and compare it to say normal "cheap" Tesco/JS value one and you will find it would be different

Fedz

Naughty butcher :rolleyes:

It's great you're on the ball though

I'd be very suspect of him in future and avoid them and in all honesty I'd report them as they can send in an investigator (if they see necessary) and give him an official line/warning

Not good

geordie_joe

jaxxy00 wrote: »

I dont remember seeing a sign, i just see a stack of trays of eggs with empty boxes for you to pick your own and fill the box.

Were the empty boxes "Free Range" boxes?

If they were then he is ripping you off as you would assume the eggs you are picking up to put in the boxes are free range.

Ticklemouse

I always buy free range - normally from Tescos.

A few weeks ago I bought half a dozen and for some reason was checking the codes on them as I put them away at home. I noticed that they were in fact all organic and was quite pleased that I had been "upgraded". However, I found a box in the fridge and when I checked, some of them were from caged birds!! I was going to contact Tesco, but I think the eggs got eaten first. (procrastination and all that)

I always check the codes now. But I have found my local butcher sells extra large free range for £1.30 per 6, as opposed to Tesco £1.17 per 6 medium. I know where I'll be going in future.

jaxxy00

geordie_joe wrote: »

Were the empty boxes "Free Range" boxes?

If they were then he is ripping you off as you would assume the eggs you are picking up to put in the boxes are free range.

The egg boxes were just totally plain grey boxes. Although there were no signs about what type of eggs they were, only the price of them, i personally wouldnt have expected them to be from caged hens. Maybe its just me but the whole thing of getting them from the butchers and they are in large trays for you to box your own up, implies to me they would be nice fresh free roaming hens eggs. I would be mistrusting of supermarkets but didnt expect to have to be of my own local butcher.

When i go in there in the week, if they still have caged eggs, i will speak to the owner and ask him about when/if they get free range etc and see what he has to say.

xlt_hunter

jaxxy00 wrote: »

The egg boxes were just totally plain grey boxes. Although there were no signs about what type of eggs they were, only the price of them, i personally wouldnt have expected them to be from caged hens. Maybe its just me but the whole thing of getting them from the butchers and they are in large trays for you to box your own up, implies to me they would be nice fresh free roaming hens eggs. I would be mistrusting of supermarkets but didnt expect to have to be of my own local butcher.

When i go in there in the week, if they still have caged eggs, i will speak to the owner and ask him about when/if they get free range etc and see what he has to say.

Ah, now you mentioned trays - here is the colour coding for the system types by the colour of the trays:

Cage = Grey
Green = Barn
Blue = Free Range
Pink = Organic

HTH