Tesco a ‘rotten egg’ say animal welfare group

The Independent* reports that Compassion in World Farming (CIWF) animal welfare group awarded Britain’s largest retailer a “Rotten Egg” in the 2008 Good Egg Awards. These awards are designed to encourage responsible egg sourcing by businesses.

Supermarkets Sainsbury’s, the Co-op and Waitrose have banned the sale of eggs from battery chickens.

Cadbury Schweppes and Unilever will receive an award for respectively switching Crème Eggs and Hellmann’s mayonnaise free range. McDonald’s award recognises its commitment to phase out eggs from caged birds across its European outlets by 2010. Morrisons will be commended for going free-range on own label eggs.

According to CIWF, Asda also had a poor record on eggs. However, it was targeting Tesco because it dominates the market with 28% market share, meaning that the chain is highly influential. “Tesco could send a very strong signal to consumers, retailers and farmers by going free-range,” said Dr Lesley Lambert, CIWF’s research director.

A Tesco spokeswoman, however, stated: “We serve a broad range of customers so we will continue to offer a range of standard eggs that are all clearly labelled so that shoppers can make an informed choice. We always listen to customers and many of them tell us they are on a tight budget and rely on us to provide affordable good quality food.”