Are you really buying free range eggs?

noonesperfect

I bought a dozen "Happy Hen" eggs from from local farm shop yesterday (I naturally assumed Happy Hen meant free range - the sign by the eggs may also have made that claim, I'm not sure).

However, on closer inspection when I got home I noticed the code on the eggs began with a 3, which means they come from caged birds :mad:

It goes without saying that I've been in touch with Trading Standards as I believe the sign to be misleading, free range or not. They intend to pursue it, I don't know if I'll hear any more about it, they have my name and address but not phone number.

Please be sure you're not being led up the garden path........

squeaky

For those of you not aware of the codes that (may) can be found on eggs, the post here has them listed and explained...

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?p=378363

Bongedone

Thanks for that. Just checked mine and they are what it says. 0 for organic happy hens.

I am going to check in the box in future. I suppose you never know if somebody has switched them.

noonesperfect

Thanks for that Squeaky. I'm sure there's alot of people who don't know what these codes mean.

It infuriates me that farm shops might get away with this practise - it never occurred to me to check the codes on the eggs whilst in the shop, only to make sure they weren't broken :mad: , I'll check in future.

TroysMum

Our local market cheese man was selling supposedly free range eggs to my mum, when i checked they were code 3!!! Not a happy bunny!!!!

ChocClare

I buy mine from the farm down the road where I can actually see the chickens wandering about the place. They are also half the price of Tesco and so wonderfully fresh that I'm now supplying half the office with them. One woman I work with is delighted that she can make scrambled egg on toast for her grandson with HM bread and fresh eggs "how she remembers them tasting when she was a girl".

The difference is really noticeable and if they have a glut then they sell yesterday's large eggs for £1 per dozen instead of £1.90 - and that's probably still fresher than they would be on Tesco's shelves!

Obviously if you live in town then it's impossible, but for anyone who lives in or near the countryside I would really recommend getting your eggs locally - so nice to know where they come from and the taste is so much better too. All this "barn eggs" mallarkey really makes me mad as they're promoted in the shops as if they're any better than the value eggs which are obviously from caged birds

beemuzed

Mine are labelled organic free-range, so they'd jolly well better be! Didn't know about the codes tho' - thanks for the info!

Robothell

Buy mine off a friend of mine who keeps hens on his farm.......they certainly look like happy hens!! Thinking of getting a few of my own once I get a bigger yard!

noonesperfect

ChocClare wrote: »

I buy mine from the farm down the road where I can actually see the chickens wandering about the place. They are also half the price of Tesco and so wonderfully fresh that I'm now supplying half the office with them. One woman I work with is delighted that she can make scrambled egg on toast for her grandson with HM bread and fresh eggs "how she remembers them tasting when she was a girl".

The difference is really noticeable and if they have a glut then they sell yesterday's large eggs for £1 per dozen instead of £1.90 - and that's probably still fresher than they would be on Tesco's shelves!

Obviously if you live in town then it's impossible, but for anyone who lives in or near the countryside I would really recommend getting your eggs locally - so nice to know where they come from and the taste is so much better too. All this "barn eggs" mallarkey really makes me mad as they're promoted in the shops as if they're any better than the value eggs which are obviously from caged birds

I live in the countryside and used a farm/farmshop that I believed would only deal in "wholesome" produce (also within 2 miles of my house). Incidentally their eggs were £1.60 per dozen, which I considered to be good for free range. Before they opened "properly" you could go for odd bits and pieces and see hens and cockerels scratting about, so I sort of got the idea that everything they sell will be "wholesome and farm fresh"! I'm not going there again.

emmilou

I found this too, our local farm shop has a sign saying free range eggs but the other week noticed they were code 3. Hence I have stopped buying from there and found another farmshop where they are code 1 and also cheaper, now that is a bonus! :T

With regards to the other because of their misleading info I am now dubious about their 'organic' meat its a shame because they are a tiny outfit just down the road and I'm all for supporting local. I now have to travel 6 miles out just for eggs and spuds!!

dan1979

ChocClare wrote: »

Obviously if you live in town then it's impossible,

Farmers markets?