"Free Range" egg fraud

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Fred99

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#209105 13-Mar-2017 08:52

Nice first story from the new "Newsroom" site.

Hopefully, if this report is accurate and at $14,000 / week extra profit for a couple of years, any penalty imposed by SFO etc would be in multiples of the millions of dollars of profit made by deception.

A tip for anybody concerned about animal welfare issues and commercially produced eggs, is to buy only eggs in cartons with the blue SPCA tick. Note that some cartons are marked with similar looking ticks in other colours - which are not SPCA certified and are possibly just a meaningless cynical trick. A barn-raised chook to SPCA standard is probably a much happier/healthier chook than so-called "free-range" chooks in the poorly regulated and policed industry we seem to have.

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#1735561 13-Mar-2017 09:58

Seeing that news item it would appear on the face of it to be a deliberate organised fraud. We have been buying those eggs and are some what pissed. I really hope the SFO cracks this.

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Rikkitic

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#1735563 13-Mar-2017 09:59

I usually buy Countdown free range because of the specific statement on the carton 'free to move and feed in open farmyards'. I don't have a lot of trust in any big commercial operation but I assume that a statement like that has legal implications.

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kiwifidget

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#1735566 13-Mar-2017 10:05

I don't think this is anything new. I have vague memories of a "study" being done several years ago where someone worked out that the number of free range eggs being sold was way in excess of the number of free range hens. It wouldn't surprise me if this was not an isolated case.

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Fred99

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#1735579 13-Mar-2017 10:37

Rikkitic:

I usually buy Countdown free range because of the specific statement on the carton 'free to move and feed in open farmyards'. I don't have a lot of trust in any big commercial operation but I assume that a statement like that has legal implications.

Probably also subject to interpretation as well - though there are standards, it seems to be suggested that policing of those standards isn't exactly rigorous. If "free range" chickens have access to "open farmyards" there's no guarantee they'll spend any time there anyway, especially if food and water are indoors and the outdoor area is exposed and barren.

That's why I suggest paying attention to the SPCA "blue tick" on cartons - and not pretty pictures of happy looking chickens on green pastures and whatever other marketing tricks they might use.

Fred99

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#1735581 13-Mar-2017 10:48

MikeB4:

Seeing that news item it would appear on the face of it to be a deliberate organised fraud. We have been buying those eggs and are some what pissed. I really hope the SFO cracks this.

Yes. Even if it's not eggs - but some other product marketed to people with claims of "social responsibility" be that not using child labour, being environmentally sustainable etc. Repeated cynical fraud of that type destroys confidence that there's any point in trying to do the right thing.
I particularly despise things like defense of VW/Audi by claiming that "all auto makers cheat" and large corporations like Cadbury (Mondelez) and Nestle etc rejecting established "fair-trade" organisations and starting their own imitation standards - pinning badges on themselves as being responsible, when that's only to standards they want to adhere to, and then only to a small part of their overall production.

PolicyGuy

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#1735604 13-Mar-2017 11:04

MikeB4:

... I really hope the SFO cracks this.

Love your work, Mike

SepticSceptic

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#1735607 13-Mar-2017 11:07

Egg on face ?

Pumpedd

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#1735610 13-Mar-2017 11:15

Similar issues in Australia with no regulation. Kind of shows the free enterprise does need regulation especially when it comes to food. I understand that even free range eggs are not what we think them to be.

MikeB4

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#1735611 13-Mar-2017 11:16

PolicyGuy:

MikeB4:

... I really hope the SFO cracks this.

Love your work, Mike

it's no yoke and the fine cannot be a paltry one

frednz

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#1735683 13-Mar-2017 12:07

MikeB4:

PolicyGuy:

MikeB4:

... I really hope the SFO cracks this.

Love your work, Mike

it's no yoke and the fine cannot be a paltry one

Eggsaxctly, it's simply fowl play to misrepresent the situation.

"But commercial free range farms are often large-scale operations involving many thousands of animals. Due to the sheer scale of production, the welfare and individual treatment of the animals is compromised. The animals, especially chickens, are kept in unnaturally large groups that can cause stress and fighting." (as quoted from this site).

Fred

dafman

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#1735718 13-Mar-2017 13:21

And, surprise, it's Countdown, yet again. Top of the pops it seems for supermarket bad press.

mattwnz

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#1735744 13-Mar-2017 13:46

I don't really know much about this case. But from the headline, I wouldn't be surprised if things like this go on all the time in all industries, especially with imported stuff. The problem is a lack of policing. We have all these laws, which makes it costly and difficult for all those who do things correctly. But things aren't fully tested, and it is almost self regulating and , bottom of the cliff' stuff, where the public end up finding the problem. I think we really need to look at how things are done. This may not be helped by a lack of competition in the supermarket area. This is because growers have less competition as to who they can sell to, meaning growers have to cut costs. Going from 3 big supermarket chains , down to two, was one of the biggest mistakes the gov made for consumers and producers. We desperately need to go back to 3 big operators. The mobile telco industry shows how important having a third operator is for consumers.

6FIEND

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#1735760 13-Mar-2017 14:05

...I have lost track of the number of people who have told me that they pay extra for these "free range eggs" because you can see and taste the difference! (Now I'm trying desperately hard to avoid an "egg on face" pun...)

JaseNZ

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#1735762 13-Mar-2017 14:06

Perhaps they were getting the eggs from the same place PB get their drives. Sorry could not resist that one.

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Rikkitic

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#1735766 13-Mar-2017 14:10

I pay extra for the eggs solely because I don't want to be part of the misery inflicted on cage hens. People already do enough damage to their fellow creatures on this planet.

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