Bird flu labelling will be required from 28th February and the Free Range Egg sector is bracing itself for a major headache. The outbreak of H5N8 avian flu across the continent lead to precautionary measures being taken by DEFRA which included a temporary housing order on free range flocks. Flocks that would have been free to roam outside were ordered to be kept indoors to reduce the risk of transmission.
Keeping the hens indoors is no problem apart from the legislative tape and regulations the EU has imposed across Europe. As of 28th February, the eggs laid by these hens can no longer be called free range as they have been housed for 12 weeks and in its bureaucratic paralysis, the EU has found itself unable to permit a waiver in these circumstances.
EU rules mean that any poultry products that are sold as Free Range must not be kept in barns or under cover for more than 12 weeks at a time. After this period, the products must be labels as barn reared and cannot be labelled as free range irrespective of the unique situation. Egg producers are understandably angered that they have had to take the burden of housing their flocks whilst still paying the burden of keeping the flocks’ free range facilities and now they face another fee for labelling their product which in turn will reduce its value.
It will not be possible for the entire industry and supply chain to change its labelling. Positive ID Labelling and Danro are trying to help where they can offering a new label that producers can apply to their egg boxes. The labels will be manufactured with the finalised agreed wording which is expected to be “Eggs laid by hens temporarily housed in barns for their welfare“. The labels will be 1-inch in diameter, printed cyan on white.
How will free range egg bird flu labelling work?
It is expected that egg producers will be allowed to continue labelling their eggs with current label stock including “free range” statements but are required to apply the additional labels too. Wherever the eggs are sold, additional signage will be required to explain that the free range eggs cannot be categorised whilst the bird flu precautions of temporarily housing flocks is in place.
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Last year Freezeland Ltd, a London based retailer of frozen products, contacted us regarding their labelling. Here at Positive ID we are proud to announce that we completely revamped their labelling process. We now supply them with 70,000 labels a year for them to use on their desktop printer system.
Freezeland Ltd
The result is a clearly read label giving all the details necessary. Jackie Harris, Technical Manager at Plants Plus explained that Positive ID Labels labelling solution has speeded up the labelling operation by more than 50%, with a significant cost saving. “It’s ideal for our business,” she said.
Plants Plus
Orexis Fresh Foods Ltd is a family run Food Manufacturing Company specializing in ethnic dips, Mexican dips, luxury salads and sandwich fillings. Orexis Ltd approached Positive ID for a simple cost effective way to apply a “Best Before” and “Batch Number” to a range of their products.
The answer was to use a two line-labelling gun. George Katsaros from Orexis said “we have been using Positive ID for 3 years now and they initially advised us correctly about the right products to use and have been well pleased and served by them since”.
Orexis Fresh Foods
Samantha Gore from Samsi was particularly pleased that we met all the deadlines and she described the experience as ‘fun’ and stated that all staff from Positive ID were very friendly and happy to help. Also, she thanked us for our patience with all the refinements she desired.We are proud to hold great relationships with all of our customers and look forward to many other stories like this in the near future.
Samsi
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EU rules mean that any poultry products that are sold as Free Range must not be kept in barns or under cover for more than 12 weeks at a time. After this period, the products must be labels as barn reared and cannot be labelled as free range irrespective of the unique situation. Egg producers are understandably angered that they have had to take the burden of housing their flocks whilst still paying the burden of keeping the flocks’ free range facilities and now they face another fee for labelling their product which in turn will reduce its value.
Expertise and Knowledge 
Customer Focus and Trust 
Speed and Efficiency 
Diverse Product Range 
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