NSW egg farm fined for falsely advertised ‘free-range’ eggs
Glensung Pty Ltd, trading as Paul Galea and Son Egg Farm in western Sydney, has been added to the NSW Food Authority Name and Shame register after it was revealed that they had falsely labeled ‘barn-eggs’ as ‘free-range.’ The company was also fined $4620 for incorrectly labeling its products.
Although there is no legal definition of ‘free-range,’ there is an industry standard in the form of the national model code – which requires free-range chickens to have outdoor access and space to roam. ‘Barn-laid’ eggs, the eggs that Paul Galea and Son Egg Farm actually produced, are from chickens that are laid in a shed with no outdoor access.
Primary Industries Minister Katrina Hodgkinson said that the fine was necessary to ensure national standards for labeling were being met.
The NSW Food Authority Name and Shame register listed Paul Galea and Son Egg Farm after issuing them with three warnings. The company has now been added to a public register to make consumers aware of the falsely advertised ‘free-range’ eggs.
The news follows a call by NSW Greens MP John Kaye for greater regulation of the egg industry as he claims the model code is not ‘legally binding’ and that consumers continue to be ‘misled.’ However, the action by the NSW Food Authority appears to have addressed these claims.
Hopefully this will be the start needed to get some honesty back into the egg industry. There are many examples acknowledged by the Australian Egg Corporation of intensively produced eggs being labelled as ‘free range’. It has admittd that a third of eggs labelled free range are from intensive farms.
This is why i never choose free range eggs..hard to believe
is this the same paul galea backed by alan jones who successfully called for deregulation of the egg indusrty in nsw in 1989 so that he could sell cheap free range eggs, 40c doz cheaper than egg board eggs?