Labeling practices of food producers.

ElizabethB

ElizabethB

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A fairly recent trend in food labeling is "Cage Free Eggs" :ohmy:

What does that mean? The eggs are not kept in little cages? The chickens are not raised in cages? Unless labeled free range chickens are raised in hen houses - not cages.

There are FDA regulation for Organic or Free Range labeling. Nothing on cage free.

Just another ploy to convince consumers to pay more for a product.

What I find appalling is that consumers actually fall for this garbage.

Another pet peeve is the Gluten Free craze. Yes - there are people with varying levels of gluten intolerance. The food industry has jumped on that with a vengeance. If you believe their advertisements no one should eat foods with gluten. Give me a break!

Eliminate gluten and charge more.

I am a "Senior Citizen". My body does not always cooperate with me. My mind functions perfectly!

I attended the University in the pre PC days. An emphasis was placed on Critical Thinking. Question everything! Just because you read it in the newspaper (yes - we actually read newspapers), saw it on TV or - now - found it on the internet does not mean that it is true. Question everything and do your own research.

Ok - :oops:

Sorry for the rant. I am frequently disappointed in the gullibility of people.
 
I once had someone tell me that they felt sorry for free range and organic because they were kept outdoors all the time! Where on earth do these people think they are going to go if the weather is bad, or if foxes etc are about. The same person also decided that organic and free-range eggs which aren't stamped with the Red Lion (in the UK) spread salmonella.

As for gluten-free, lactose-free, and anything-else-free foods, it is a general rule that you shouldn't eat any of these foods unless you really need to. I have been told to avoid adding salt to my diet and just rely on natural salt in foods because I have very high sodium levels, but even this has not been without causing other health problems. Faddy diets cause just as many health problems in the long term as eating junk foods. And even foods considered junk foods are perfectly healthy is you just cook them yourself and watch what ingredients go into them (says she who stuffs herself full of pizza and burgers - home-made, not shop-bought).
 
Here all products containing "transgenéticos" = Monsanto Bayer Gmos are labelled on the front of the box, or jar or package in big letters.

As far as eggs go, I eat very few however, use as an ingredient and they are marked Organic in Spanish and Catalan.

It is time, that other countries did same ..

I read all labels, none the less and buy very few pre packaged ítems ..

I read a very interesting article in a magazine regarding the removal of gluten which was not a happy solution to those with problems with bread products or pastas etcetra.

Since, I do not have issues with gluten, bread or pasta etcetra, I prefer not to get into it .. as I it was quite a long time ago and it was at an office I had gone to for a meeting ..
 
ElizabethB said:
A fairly recent trend in food labeling is "Cage Free Eggs" :ohmy:

What does that mean? The eggs are not kept in little cages? The chickens are not raised in cages? Unless labeled free range chickens are raised in hen houses - not cages.

There are FDA regulation for Organic or Free Range labeling. Nothing on cage free.

Just another ploy to convince consumers to pay more for a product...
Click to expand...
My favorite label for a chuckle is one that states the eggs come from a "Free Range" chicken that is fed a "Vegetarian Diet". :unsure: Soooo....does someone wander around behind each chicken, picking out any insects they find in the grass from said chicken's little mouth? :scratchhead:You can't have an outdoor chicken keeping itself on a strict vegetarian diet, ya know.

Although I saved an article I read in a magazine about the different types of egg farms, danged if I know where in my tower of papers it might be. Instead, found a simple online article that explains the differences in egg farming. Hope this sheds a bit of info: Farm Fresh, Free Range, Cage Free, Organic...
 
Unfortunately the U.S. does not require GMO labeling. :banghead:

@Francesca

I use much less processed food than I used to. In my pantry I have tomato products (I do not always have fresh tomatoes from my garden), broth and bases, again I do not always have broth and stock in the freezer. There are a few packages of tuna - George sometimes likes tuna salad for lunch.

Fresh veggies are a must - we have multiple Farmer's Markets and locally owned produce markets. Organic veggies are readily available. Food just taste better when fresh.
 
ElizabethB said:
Unfortunately the U.S. does not require GMO labeling. :banghead:

@Francesca

I use much less processed food than I used to. In my pantry I have tomato products (I do not always have fresh tomatoes from my garden), broth and bases, again I do not always have broth and stock in the freezer. There are a few packages of tuna - George sometimes likes tuna salad for lunch.

Fresh veggies are a must - we have multiple Farmer's Markets and locally owned produce markets. Organic veggies are readily available. Food just taste better when fresh.
Click to expand...

@ElizabethB

Yes, I know all about the lack of labelling across the blue pond .. Corrupt criminals in my view.
Just killing off humanity and all wild life is their ball game .. Pathetic.

If you buy San Marzano tomatoes from Italy, they should be natural ..

Or grow your own indoors ..

I agree that food is much more tasty and healthy when fresh and not poisoned by those criminals ..

Have a nice weekend ..
 
ElizabethB said:
Unless labeled free range chickens are raised in hen houses - not cages.
Click to expand...
I think hens are still being kept in cages both sides of the pond (see the link provided by @Lynne Guinne),

640px-Industrial-Chicken-Coop.jpg


In the UK battery cages were banned 6 years ago but it is still legal to keep hens in 'enriched cages' :

In the UK 51 per cent of eggs last year were laid by hens kept in these kinds of ‘enriched’ cages, which can hold up to 90 birds. They are meant to give hens more time to nest, roost and stretch. Sadly, there have been numerous reports of poor conditions and animal suffering connected with 'enriched cages'.

source: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/u...orrisons-one-stop-lidl-oaklands-a7374281.html
 
@morning glory

Horrorific . I only buy from a tiny farm on the northern Costa Brava.

I like chicken (especially Piccata) however, very rarely eat it except when in France, Bresse ..
 
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morning glory said:
I think hens are still being kept in cages both sides of the pond (see the link provided by @Lynne Guinne),

View attachment 10952

In the UK battery cages were banned 6 years ago but it is still legal to keep hens in 'enriched cages' :

In the UK 51 per cent of eggs last year were laid by hens kept in these kinds of ‘enriched’ cages, which can hold up to 90 birds. They are meant to give hens more time to nest, roost and stretch. Sadly, there have been numerous reports of poor conditions and animal suffering connected with 'enriched cages'.

source: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/u...orrisons-one-stop-lidl-oaklands-a7374281.html
Click to expand...
Shocking. One of those farms is only a few miles from me. This has got me questioning the role of the Red Lion mark that is trumpeted as the symbol of all things good in egg production. It also explains why the free range organic eggs I get from my butcher (he buys them from a small local producer) don't bear the Red Lion mark - if I were a producer of top quality eggs I probably wouldn't want to be associated with it either.
 
epicuric said:
Shocking. One of those farms is only a few miles from me. This has got me questioning the role of the Red Lion mark that is trumpeted as the symbol of all things good in egg production. It also explains why the free range organic eggs I get from my butcher (he buys them from a small local producer) don't bear the Red Lion mark - if I were a producer of top quality eggs I probably wouldn't want to be associated with it either.
Click to expand...
The eggs I get are not Red Lion marked either. They are just stamped with the name of the farm and the UK ID no. I occasionally get free range and/or organic eggs from Tesco, and these are often not Red Lion marked either. There have been several reports too that foods that are Red Tractor marked are not always what they are supposed to be.
 
The Lion Mark was always concerned with food safety, but not animal welfare. A lot of lion marked eggs came from battery hens, and even now the laws have been changed hens kept in the new larger cages are not much better off as far as their welfare is concerned. The Red Tractor logo is supposedly for food which meets both safety and welfare standards. What a lot of people do not know is that a lot of supermarket meat and poultry which has this logo is actually halal, and while standards re slaughter have changed considerably, not all halal meat is slaughtered to the new standards. Some Kosher methods of slaughter are not much different either. However, apart from the prayers, there is not a lot of difference to how meat and poultry animals used to be slaughtered when I was young. Most people these days would probably have heart failure if they saw my mum and dad slaughtering our chickens and rabbits that were reared for food, and even the pedigree rabbits were treated no differently when they reached the end of their lives.
 
morning glory said:
I think hens are still being kept in cages both sides of the pond (see the link provided by @Lynne Guinne),

View attachment 10952

In the UK battery cages were banned 6 years ago but it is still legal to keep hens in 'enriched cages' :

In the UK 51 per cent of eggs last year were laid by hens kept in these kinds of ‘enriched’ cages, which can hold up to 90 birds. They are meant to give hens more time to nest, roost and stretch. Sadly, there have been numerous reports of poor conditions and animal suffering connected with 'enriched cages'.

source: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/u...orrisons-one-stop-lidl-oaklands-a7374281.html
Click to expand...
Pity the "enriched cages" break the EU ban, which came into place in 1999 though!


https://www.ciwf.org.uk/news/2015/07/300-million-hens-are-still-in-cages
 
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