Yorkshire packer calls for egg sector shakeup

A Yorkshire egg producer has called for a shake-up in the egg packing industry in the wake of allegations that consumers may have been sold mislabelled eggs.

The Thirsk-based James Potter Farmhouse brand of free-range and organic eggs has launched a campaign to make it obligatory for all egg packing stations in the UK to be restricted to handle either free-range or indoor (battery and barn) eggs, but not both.

“Of the 16 or so major packers, only four are dedicated exclusively to free-range eggs, while the rest can take in both types, sometimes at the same time.

We do not believe that this is a satisfactory safeguard for the consumer,” says Adrian Potter, sales director of the family firm that supplies supermarkets Sainsbury, Tesco and ASDA.

“As the largest dedicated producer and packer of Lion quality free-range and organic eggs in Yorkshire, we have always felt it necessary to exclude all other types of eggs from our pack house.

It is our way of ensuring that consumers can be confident in what they are buying.”

He urges consumers not to be put off buying free-range or organic eggs by the recent reports of alleged mis-packaging.