While the federal government is trumpeting a new free-range egg standard as a win for shoppers, the decision has ruffled feathers with the ACT government and a peak consumer group.
Assistant Treasurer Kelly O'Dwyer met her state and territory counterparts in Canberra on Thursday to sign off on new free-range egg rules aimed at clearing up confusion.
Under the new standard, hens are required to have "meaningful and regular" access to the outdoors, with outdoor stocking of no more than one hen per square metre with a maximum 10,000 hens per hectare.
Farmers will also be required to prominently disclose outdoor stocking density of their hens.
"We know it's important that consumers have confidence in getting what they paid for," Ms O'Dwyer told reporters in Canberra.
Asked to elaborate on "meaningful and regular" access to the outdoors, Ms O'Dwyer said it means the "chook is able to get out of the barn and it's able to scratch around in the pasture".
Consumer group Choice immediately launched a campaign to encourage Australians to "boycott bad eggs", saying the standards are meaningless.
"The new free-range rules clearly reflect the commercial interests of the big industrialised egg producers, allowing stocking densities up to 10,000 hens per hectare and no requirement that hens actually go outdoors," Choice said.
Its research from 2014 found that 213 million eggs were sold as free-range but didn't live up to consumers' expectations.
Choice favours a maximum outdoor stocking density of 1500 hens per hectare and a requirement that farms only get the free-range label if their chickens actually go outside.
ACT Consumer Affairs Minister Shane Rattenbury said the new standard was a missed opportunity.
"Consumers expect the free-range label to signify high animal welfare standards with genuinely free-ranging chickens, not an intensive farming operation," Mr Rattenbury said.
Ms O'Dwyer defended the cap.
"That is the maximum cap, but of course those people who have different methods of farming free-range eggs may choose to only have 1500 chooks, they will be able to again for the first time put that on the label of their product," she said.
Ms O'Dwyer called for common sense, saying it wasn't in the best interests of chickens to force them outside in all sorts of weather conditions.
Australian Egg Corporation Limited praised the new standard.
"The definition arrived at today has been shaped by science," spokesman James Kellaway said.
