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FBR March 2016

www.fbreporter.com FOOD & BEVERAGE REPORTER | MARCH 2016 | 21 ... Continued from previous page Back home, NSPCA spokesperson Christine Kuch agrees that cage-free is a complex issue which must also include ethical and environmental issues around the disposal of male chicks. She says while cage-free can be “a step in the right direction”, animal welfare is about “holistic and humane treatment of an animal from birth to death - and the manner of death.” Adds Lowell: “What must happen is that death is pain-free and with as little stress as possible for the animal. To achieve both criteria requires different approaches for different domestic animals.” One problem for the cage-free movement in South Africa is that it is tricky for consumers to identify authentic free-range and organic foods because both concepts are presently not properly covered by law. Lovell says that while there are laws in place to prevent animal abuse, for cage-free there is only limited control of the concept by the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF). At present, the current wording simply says that it is “essential” that the birds spend some time outdoors. Lovell’s association agreed a workable set of free-range regulations with the DAFF a few years ago. But the process has been stalled because the DAFF cannot gazette any new rules until the underlying Agriculture Products Standards Act has been changed to allow for production control schemes to be properly regulated. A leader of the cage-free movement in South Africa is Louise van der Merwe of Animal Voice South Africa (www. animalvoice.org). Van der Merwe says she has spent 26 years fighting for a ban on battery cages, which she calls “one of the cruellest manifestations of exploitation ever invented”. Van der Merwe runs the Cage-Free Cape Town project which last year made a submission with Animal Voice to the DAFF to have all battery eggs labelled as “Cage Eggs”. The department rejected the submission, she says, on the grounds that consumers would take it for granted that eggs laid by chickens in battery cages were the “norm”, and therefore did not require specific identification. However, her organisation has now written to Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies, motivating why he should exercise his right, in terms of the Consumer Protection Act, to stipulate that battery eggs should be labelled as such. Meawhile, what consumers currently have to protect them from misleading claims are the standards of the retailers. Lovell says Pick ‘n Pay, Woolworths and Shopright Checkers, for example, do the checking as part of their brand reputation policies. “The issue becomes not so much about whether consumers are being misled, but about what can happen to those who mislead them – at this stage, very little,” he says. While there is growing demand for free-range poultry products, including eggs, in South Africa, Lovell says these are very much still niche products. Cost implications of the cage-free movement means its greatest impact so far is in developed, rather than developing, countries. In the USA, costs of cage- free facilities are almost double that of battery farming. Production costs are also significantly higher. The US egg industry says going cage-free could increase the price of eggs by up to 36%. In general, says Lovell, “people vote with their wallets”, and currently most South Africans are voting for cheaper, caged eggs. “But if demand changes, the industry will respond,” he says. x SPOTLIGHT cage-free have been stalled 3 clucks for Burger King The Humane Society's Africa programme manager, Tozie Zokufa, has congratulated Burger King for its recent committment to eliminating eggs from caged hens at all its outlets. In a statement, Zokufa says one of HSI Africa's goals is to encourage all stakeholders in South Africa to follow more humane practices. “HSI is asking farmers, producers, corporates, retailers and government to go cage-free and buy cage-free. We look forward to seeing more companies in SA phase out producing and using eggs from battery cages.”

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