BRITS will no longer be able to buy free-range eggs from today when they pop to the shops.
Eggs will no longer be labelled as free range – they’ll carry a sticker saying they are “barn eggs”.
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That’s the sticker given to eggs that have been produced by hens permanently housed indoors.
We explain why free-range eggs will be unavailable.
Why will free-range eggs be unavailable?
The reason why free-range eggs will no longer be on the shelves is because hens have been kept indoors for months.
That’s because chickens have been under lockdown since December to prevent a spike in bird flu from escalating further.
This is a type of flu that spreads among birds by close contact with an infected bird, either dead or alive.
Chief vets warned there was a “phenomenal level” of bird flu in the country, with tens of thousands of farmed birds culled at the time.
The length of time hens of been kept inside means eggs sold in shops can no longer be labelled as free-range.
A Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs told The Guardian: “The 16-week grace period we allowed for free-range eggs has now been exceeded, and eggs must now be marketed as ‘barn eggs’.
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“We have worked closely with the sector and retailers to implement these changes as smoothly as possible.”
When will they be unavailable?
You won’t be able to buy free range eggs from today (Monday, March 21).
The British Retail Consortium has told shops that signs should be put in place to tell shoppers about the changes and why they’re happening.
It added: “When the current measures are lifted, eggs will go back to being free-range”.
It’s not known exactly when hens will be allowed to go outside again while bird flu continues to put farm birds at risk.
We explain if humans can catch bird flu.
We also spoke to the first person to catch the deadly bird flu.
Here are the symptoms of catching bird flu.
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