Easter Pinze with a Bitter Aftertaste: Many Bakeries Use Eggs from Cage-Free Farming
For processed products, it is hardly possible for consumers to determine the type of housing the eggs come from. Many bakeries in Austria still use eggs from cage systems, as shown by the bakery check published on Thursday by "Vier Pfoten" and the Chamber of Labor Upper Austria.
In total, 60 bakeries and bake shops across Austria were asked which eggs they use. Result: Six use exclusively organic free-range eggs, five only conventional free-range eggs, and 23 only cage system eggs. Some others, as well as the bake shops of large supermarkets, use different categories. If a bakery also operates a café where free-range eggs are on the breakfast menu, it does not necessarily mean that eggs from cage systems are not used in the bakery, according to the Chamber of Labor. 17 companies, including some large chains, did not respond to the inquiry at all. This leaves it unclear whether imported cage eggs are also used, warns "Vier Pfoten".
Still Many Eggs from Cage Systems in Bakery Products
The so-called "conventional cage system," where each hen has less space than the area of an A4 sheet of paper, has been banned in the EU since 2012. The "enriched cage system" - where the animals have slightly more space and at least laying nests, perches, and a scratching area - has also been banned in Austria since 2020, as even here the animals cannot satisfy their most basic needs. However, this is still legal in other EU countries. EU-wide, almost every second hen still lives in a cage, informed "Vier Pfoten". The animal welfare organization sees a reason for this in the lack of labeling requirements for eggs in processed products.
According to estimates from the poultry industry, around one million eggs are imported to Austria daily. Due to a lack of transparent labeling requirements for processed products, pasta, sweets, or baked goods on domestic shelves often contain imported cage eggs despite strict housing regulations in Austria - whether from enriched cage systems in other EU countries or even from conventional cage systems, such as from Ukraine, according to the animal rights activists.
Demand for Comprehensive Labeling Requirements
"Vier Pfoten" therefore advocates for comprehensive labeling requirements according to housing form and origin for processed products containing eggs, as well as in gastronomy. Only in this way can consumers truly recognize how the animals were kept.
(APA/Red)
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