ree-range eggs will disappear from supermarket shelves starting Monday.
The move comes after an outbreak of bird flu, which means farmers will have to move all their chickens inside.
Supermarkets should put new labels on egg boxes, changing the terms “free-range eggs” and “shed eggs”.
They will also add signs to explain the switch.
This means that barn eggs are being sold for the first time in years in several stores, including Sainsbury’s and Morrisons, which have policies to sell only free-range eggs.
Free-range eggs account for about 70 percent of all eggs sold in stores, according to figures from data firm Kantar.
The step to change the classification follows official guidelines for egg suppliers and sellers.
They allowed 16 weeks of grace for free-range eggs, but that this has now been exceeded.
The regulations typically dispute the eggs of their “free-range status” if the animals are kept indoors for more than 16 weeks.
This was previously changed 12 weeks but was extended in 2018.
New laws were introduced last November to ensure farmers keep their chickens inside over the “biggest outbreak of bird flu”.
The government’s information suggests that between November and February there were more than 100 confirmed cases of bird flu.
UK Chief Veterinary Officer Christine Middlemiss said the UK “still sees a number of bird flu cases both on commercial farms and in farm birds across the country”.
Poultry traders risk a fine if they do not keep their birds inside.
The Ministry of the Environment, Nutrition and Agriculture said that now that the grace period for free-range eggs was over, “eggs must now be marketed as ‘shear eggs'”.
Eggs must be stamped with different codes indicating that they are now considered as hatched eggs.
Free-range egg boxes will still be allowed to be used, but another sticker or label must also be placed on them to indicate that they are now technically shed eggs.
Add Comment