New regulations for EU egg producers announced

Egg lovers will be able to track just where their eggs have come from, under new regulations announced yesterday.

Every egg will be individually stamped with a code giving information on its country of origin, county and farm of origin, as well as type of farming used and a best before date.

Leaflets explaining the code will be sent to every household in the next week. The first digit in the code will refer to the farming method, with 0 denoting organic, 1 free range, 2 barn and 3 cage. Country of origin will be denoted by letters, with IE signifying an Irish egg. Each county will have its own letter, with A for Carlow, B for Cavan, C for Clare and so on in alphabetical order, to Z for Wicklow.

And each farm will have its own number within each county. The regulations are EU-wide and will also provide for a best-before date on every egg.

Mr John Mohan, chairman of the Irish Egg Association, said the public wanted "transparent information about the food they are eating".

"Consumers want to know that their food was produced to the highest of standards and that they can trace what they are eating right back to the farm that it came from. This campaign allows Irish egg consumers to do that."

He said the egg industry welcomed the campaign and would work with the EU, the Department of Agriculture and Bord Bia.

The code is consistent in all EU states and consumers will be able to trace any egg, in any EU state, that is stamped with the code back to the farm where it was produced.

The code will also be stamped on the inside of boxes of six eggs. A spokesman for An Bord Bia said every egg for sale was required to show the traceability stamp. This included small, independent producers selling at farmers' markets.