Tuesday 16 October 2012
Australia
New egg scandal
An egg producer will be added to the Name and Shame register this week for wrongly labelling 38,000 dozen eggs as free-range.
Glensung Pty Ltd, trading as Paul Galea and Son Egg Farm in Western Sydney, has been fined $4,620 after Food Authority inspectors discovered the barn-laid eggs were being falsely labelled as free-range.
Under the National Model Code ‘free-range’ requires hens to have easy access to an outdoor area to roam while ‘barn-laid’ eggs are from chickens that are confined in a shed.
All food businesses must comply with the NSW Food Act 2003 which makes it an offence to falsely describe products. In the case of Glensung Pty Ltd, the company was issued three penalty infringement notices for breaking the law.
Minister for Primary Industries Katrina Hodgkinson said it is unacceptable to mislabel any food product and the NSW Government will continue to protect the State’s strict food laws.
“Given a large portion of eggs produced in NSW are traded interstate this Government has also taken the lead and has requested the Federal Government review the Model Code.
“The Model Code needs to be clearly defined to enable a more consistent interpretation of its requirements nationwide,” Ms Hodgkinson said.
Source: farmonline.com.au
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