a question of eggs
March 4th, 2006
My suspicions have recently been raised about supermarket eggs. A recent purchase of Asda organic eggs first made me suspicious, as they are certified by an authority other than the Soil Association. This makes me suspicious because, if I were a supermarket selling a product which could be certified by the Soil Association, I would definitely get them to certify it. The reason being that it is the best known organic branding in the UK.
The lack of Soil Association logo makes me suspicious that the production standards are not high enough. The use of non-standard certification means that the consumer has little idea what the certification means. Can I set up my own authority and certify eggs as ‘organic’ according to my standards?
Furthermore, what really caused me to be suspicious is the complete lack of any certification on organic eggs sold at Tesco. Without a certificate, can anybody tell me what is legally required for an egg to be called organic? Is there even a definition?
Slightly related, maybe tescopoly might interest some people.
3 Responses to “a question of eggs”
1adam
March 5th, 2006 @ 18:23
As far as I’m aware it’s up to the suppliers to get there land certified by the Soil Assoc. rather than the supermarkets. With supermarkets demanding such low prices maybe the suppliers have no option but to save the money it costs to be certified? Case in point.. the Cube coffee…
http://sparror.cubecinema.com/feraltrade/
…is organic and comes from a supplier that cannot afford certificaton and even if it wanted to be non-organic it couldn’t afford the chemicals etc.
2tom
March 5th, 2006 @ 18:32
Interesting point. I suspect that if the eggs were certified though, they could attract a higher price. Given that Tesco must sell hundreds of thousands of eggs, I imagine that the supplier(s) are going to be very large farms, rather than small-holdings, where efficiency will be key.
I’ll investigate further.
3Natalie
March 14th, 2006 @ 02:08
In New Zealand, the SPCA certify eggs as being cruelty free. I assume they charge little if anything, and are an extremely trustworthy guide. I have been advised to avoid all other types of certification because they can be corrupted and bought. I think we have quite a good organics regulating body aswell, I would hope the charges are smallish, and i know it’s extremely hard to get certified.
I hate it how everyone always tries to muck with you! :)
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