The policy will be rolled out in 2012 and Australian egg producers are urged to get involved, AECL Managing Director, James Kellaway, said. ‘It is important for the egg industry to put its money where its mouth is. The egg industry has always been passionate about doing its bit to ‘feed the world’. We do that every day by providing affordable and nutritious eggs to Australians. But now we want to do a bit more and help Australians in need directly. We chose FoodBank as they are a perfect fit for AECL and because they provide an important service
to underprivileged Australians,” Mr Kellaway said.

The new partnership will involve a cash donation from AECL of up to $15,000 to Food Bank plus a boosted commitment from the egg industry to provide eggs to the needy. Australia joins the International Egg Commission and many other egg producers around the world in their commitment to CSR. The International Egg Commission (IEC) recently conducted a study that revealed that IEC members have donated the equivalent of over 7 million US dollars, and a staggering 22,340,000 eggs to help people throughout the world in the past year.

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The Australian Egg Corporation Limited (AECL) welcomed the ruling by the Federal Court to penalise a West Australian wholesaler for misleading consumers by incorrectly labelling egg cartons as ‘free range’.

“This wholesaler has been found to have labelled cartons of eggs as ‘free range’ and then sold them on to unknowing consumers, when a large majority of the eggs were not free range,” AECL Managing Director, James Kellaway said.

“AECL rejects this behaviour in the strongest possible terms. Misleading consumers to the detriment of the Australian egg industry is something we will not tolerate.

“Australian egg farmers are a hard working and honest bunch who take pride in the work they do and the eggs they produce. The deceptive actions of this wholesaler, who is not known as an egg farmer, has done a great disservice to the egg industry.”

The court action, instigated under the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (CCA) by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), ordered the wholesaler to pay a civil pecuniary penalty of $50,000.

“We fully support the action to penalise the offending wholesaler, and would have welcomed an even stronger penalty, had it been given. The Federal Court ruling sends a clear message that this type of behaviour will not be tolerated. I hope it dissuades anyone from undertaking similar practices in the future,” Mr Kellaway said.

Eggs play an important role in the daily lives of Australians as they are a natural and safe food that continues to be the most affordable source of protein and other nutrients for the average Australian family.

“As consumer demand continues to rise and egg sales increase in Australia, it is even more important to ensure the integrity of the Australian egg industry is maintained and that the actions of a few do not damage the reputations of hardworking egg farmers,” said Mr Kellaway

“The record egg sales last year represent an outstanding result in what was a challenging year for the industry,” said the Managing Director of the Australian Egg Corporation (AECL), James Kellaway.

“To achieve this outcome, egg farmers had to overcome a shortage of eggs earlier in the year, higher feed prices due to prolonged drought conditions, as well as the need to make significant changes to their capital infrastructure – up to 60% of their business assets – to meet higher animal welfare standards. These facts alone make the results all the more impressive, demonstrating the professionalism within this important sector.”

The 2010 figures represent an increase in sales of 7.8% from 2009, the second-highest year-on-year percentage increase in the past decade, behind 2000-2001, compared to Australia’s population growth of less than 1.7%.

Higher demand for eggs by Australian families over the long term is further reflected by sales in 2010 being more than 45 million dozen higher than in 2000, up by 36%. “These figures reinforce the central role that eggs play in a healthy diet due to the convenience, versatility and nutrition of eggs,” Mr Kellaway said.

“Eggs are a natural and safe food and continue to be the most affordable source of protein and other nutrients for the average Australian family. Eggs are an integral part of a healthy, balanced diet, being rewarded the Heart Foundation’s tick of approval.”

It has been reported that over 130 people have suffered from salmonella (salmonellosis) contamination that has been traced back to an aioli sauce that was made on the premises and prepared with unpasteurised raw eggs.

We believe the sauce had been stored for a number of days.

The Australian Egg Corporation (AECL) is extremely concerned over any ill health that is associated with the egg industry, and will continue to reinforce safe food practices to all Australian egg farmers and their customers.

The egg industry want to see improved food safety standards within the food services sector, including greater training, accreditation and auditing similar to the rigor of the mandatory requirements met by egg farmers.

The egg industry is well regulated with respect to food safety, along with other production characteristics, and is required to undergo regular auditing and testing to ensure their product is of the highest quality.

The AECL implore that all food service operators practice good food safety in the kitchen by washing your hands and cooking utensils with soap and water before and after preparing food. Awareness of safe food handling, storage and processing procedures will prevent most food born illness.

The ideal temperature to store eggs is 5 degrees. If this is not possible, keep your eggs at no more than 15 degrees and out of direct sunlight.

The Australian egg industry is committed to continuous improvement, as demonstrated by the adoption and ongoing development of the national quality assurance program – Egg Corp Assured. Egg Corp Assured eggs can be purchased with the utmost confidence by Australian consumers knowing that they are a safe, healthy and nutritious food.

Consumers are driven by many factors when purchasing their weekly meals and while price is a primary driver behind these decisions, they also want to know that they are doing the right thing by respecting the environment, animal welfare and their own neighbourhoods.

Egg farmers distress stems from the frequent portrayal of them that implies a lack of care or understanding of the very animals that make up the foundation of their families and local communities well being.

What the extremists and their supporters fail to recognise, is that debate surrounding the actual egg production systems overlooks the most important indicator of animal welfare across all livestock industries, which is the level of animal husbandry practiced on the farm.

The importance of highly skilled farmers, along with robust quality assurance systems in egg farming allows for added consumer choice, and ensures best practice by farmers within all recognised production systems.

Australian consumers are demanding safe, clean, fresh and affordable eggs and that is what Australian egg farmers are passionate about providing.

The debate about egg production systems is not new. The Australian egg industry is made up of all types of farms – Free Range, Caged and Barn. Each has their advantages and disadvantages in relation to animal health and welfare with no one system providing a perfect environment for the hens’ well-being.

As a result, the egg industry invests millions of dollars every year in research with the Australian Government to assist reach even higher standards to those already practiced. This effort will not abate.

Many misconceptions exist in the community and activist groups often perpetuate these in the media and in well-funded public relations campaigns in an effort to mislead consumers and denigrate egg farmers. These include (however are not limited to):

• Cutting hens beaks off with red hot blades – this does not occur, some beaks are trimmed to reduce the incidence of cannibalism and feather pecking, however this is only the tip of the beak and is done with modern infra-red technology and is most commonly used and required in non-cage systems.
• Imagery of old and rusted battery cages – these deceive the public as they do not reflect modern egg farms that have been upgraded through legislation as recently as 2008.
• The prevalence of hormones and / or antibiotics – these have not been used in productive laying flocks for decades. Any medication administered to birds is done so only to treat illness when the bird has been quarantined from producing eggs.
• Cages have been banned in the European Union – this is not so. The European Commission has passed laws to upgrade cage production systems across its member countries by 2012.

Approximately seventy five per cent of eggs sold in Australia at the moment are from caged systems. This is essentially because they are the most affordable type of egg. Some consumers prefer to choose free-range or barn-produced eggs and are willing to pay a little more.

The Australian Egg Corporation supports and encourages this consumer choice because at the end of the day the final decision should be the consumers’ to make. The Australian egg industry will vigorously defend this right.

As an industry, we take animal welfare seriously. Egg farmers have invested approximately $400 million in recent years in improving all our hen-housing systems for the sole purpose of enhancing the welfare of our birds.

As egg farmers from around the country we care about producing the highest quality and safest product to supply to Australian families and we are concerned about our ability to feeding our growing population in an environmentally responsible manner.

We are maintaining that investment in the form of new and improved infrastructure to guarantee the ongoing development of welfare practices within the Australian egg industry. We will also continue to encourage retailers to provide choice because that is what consumers want. Clear nutritional information and clear labelling between the different types of eggs will allow consumers to make an even more informed decision.

The humble egg is one of nature’s great nutritional products. Every vitamin except C, a great source of protein, all the major minerals, Omega-3 – all encased in this simple, easy product. Enough nutrition, in fact, to sustain life!?
That is why eggs receive the tick of approval from the Heart Foundation. That is why egg consumption is growing and that the best advice from health nutritionists is that we should all be consuming six eggs a week as part of a healthy diet.?

Whatever the factor is that determines the consumers’ egg purchase, one thing remains clear; for a healthy diet they should choose an egg – six times a week!

James Kellaway is the Managing Director of AECL – Australian Egg Corporation Limited – the national industry body representing all Australian egg farmers.

The announcement was made by the Minister for Primary Industries, Tony Kelly last week, and instigated by the former Minister, Ian Macdonald, during his time in the Primary Industries portfolio.

“Most egg farms in Australia reflect a modern, progressive and compliant environment, encouraging best practice on-farm for the benefit of the animals, staff and management. These modern establishments no longer reflect the images that are commonly broadcast in the media, and AECL is eager to eliminate any association the general public may have with these out-dated images” said James Kellaway, the Managing Director of AECL.

The Australian egg industry is proud of the innovation and advancement that has taken place within much of the industry in recent years, and does not support illegal egg farmers who choose not to upgrade their facilities.

The vast majority of Australian egg farmers have made significant capital investments in recent years to comply with 2008 requirements, however some NSW egg farmers have been reluctant to upgrade their systems to meet these obligations.

While in December 2008 over 83% of the national flock were housed in compliant cages, only 73.1% of the NSW flock met this standard, and although this figure has increased during the interim 12 months, there is a sustained need for the remaining egg farmers in NSW to comply with the regulation.

The Australian Egg Corporation applauds this move by the NSW Government, and predicts that harsher penalties for non-compliance to the regulation will be an additional incentive for unlawful egg farmers to upgrade their facilities or exit the egg industry.

The Australian Egg Corporation Limited’s (AECL’s) Egg Corp Assured program is a voluntary program that is based around the 4th Edition of the Model Code of Practice for the welfare of Animals Domestic Poultry, as recognized by Choice magazine in July of 2008.

The national industry quality assurance scheme – Egg Corp Assured (ECA) was initially developed under a research project leading to the National Egg Quality Assurance Program. This was revised and presented as a national scheme by the Australian Egg Corporation Limited (AECL) in December 2004.

While AECL has taken action to define consumer expectations in free range eggs, we are unaware of any research done by Choice in this area, to define their assertion of “true free range”. AECL encourage, and fully support the regulation and enforcement of standards within the egg industry, as long as those standards are meaningful and take into account available and reliable science, as well as consumer preferences.

Source: Australian Egg Corporation

AECL strongly believe all egg production systems have their own advantages and disadvantages in relation to hen welfare, and fully supports the right of all consumers to exercise freedom of choice when they are presented with the vast array of choice at the supermarket. Best practice in hen welfare is largely determined by the animal husbandry practices of egg farmers, rather than the production systems that they use.

These increases represent more than double the rate of inflation for this 12 month period of 2.3%1.

These changes have seen consumers struggle to make ends meet, as Australian families and pensioners, bear the brunt of the slowing economy.

One tip to save money is to use eggs more frequently as a source of high quality protein in your main meals. A dozen eggs costs $3 – $6, and provides enough eggs to feed six people!

Source: Australian Egg Corporation