"free range"--let's get rid of this nonsense term

[Brooks_]

This may be useful. and here is the legal authority. This is about irradiating fresh eggs, not for the home hobbyist.

Short form, "Fresh" does not mean recent, its not a measure of time, it means they haven't been stored below 26 degrees F, just like "never frozen" means below 0 F. I know, I know, the physics of reality says otherwise, but why would we expect the law to abide by reality???

Eggs can be stored, not climate or humidity controlled, up to two weeks before washing, sanitizing, air drying and packaging and still get the best grading. 30 days and still be fit, according to the USDA, for human consumption. There is no standard for "best by", "sell by", or "expired" after packaging - that's all voluntary and set by the packager or the supplier. Our system is sort of a mix of Europe's, and what we think of the US system, in that you can leave the eggs on the counter for weeks, as they do in the EU, then wash, sanitize, package to make the USDA happy and sell them as "fresh", so long as they didn't get stored below 26 degrees...

What can I say? Gov't is good at legally defining words to mean things they are not normally understood to convey.

Gotcha, fresh just means not frozen or cooked.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Gotcha, fresh just means not frozen or cooked.

in the case of unprocessed food, yes. It may have a different meaning (probably does, actually) for prepared foods. I've not researched.

 

[ninja333pirate]

Oh no they made me watch the original one in school.....still don’t eat McDonald’s

The second one is all about the chicken industry and how they treat the chickens and how terribly they treat the workers that raise the chickens

 

[Brooks_]

in the case of unprocessed food, yes. It may have a different meaning (probably does, actually) for prepared foods. I've not researched.

Scared to think of the Regs for processed food.

 

[Carson213]

so...to sum it up..."fresh" and "free range" mean nothing compared to how we, on this forum, would all actually use those terms.

 

[Carson213]

so...to sum it up..."fresh" and "free range" mean nothing compared to how we, on this forum, would all actually use those terms.

we need new terminology for what we provide that's not walmart "free range, fresh, etc" eggs.

 

[Carson213]

we need new terminology for what we provide that's not walmart "free range, fresh, etc" eggs.

a BYC co-op of sorts...so that you know you're actually getting not sh*t eggs that were marked up in price because they were "free range, etc"

 

[Chuckie chicken]

a BYC co-op of sorts...so that you know you're actually getting not sh*t eggs that were marked up in price because they were "free range, etc"

How about"stress free eggs"? Now you have to come up with a definition that some marketing weeny doesn't turn inside out.

 

[quackingdom]

And how about the term "pastured eggs"? Or "pasture-raised"?

 

[vintage]

We're talking about semantics here. "Non-cruelty" is a term I think of when raising my chickens. For example: having 100 chickens in a 10x10 space and stating they're free range or cruelty free is certainly not true, it's cruel (imo) to manage a flock in that way.

When they are outside of their safety net, I consider it free ranging. Mostly because they are more susceptible to predators. Many of us have to place limitations on our chickens' roaming space for a variety of reasons.