What Free Range Really Means

Pastured eggs are the only ones that you can trust that the hens actually spend substantial time outside.

What free range really means.

Free range eggs does not mean that the eggs are organic or gmo free. A lot of customers don t really know what the terms means anymore and it would appear that very few farmers do either. Food standard labels are a good starting point but truth is they can only tell you so much and whether its red tractor rspca assured or organic standards can vary wildly within each bracket. Which egg label really means that the hens roam free.

Once plucked and prepared there are few clues to guide you to a good bird. If poultry is certified free range as part of the humane farm animal care s hfac certified humane program it means the chickens spend at least six hours a day outdoors weather permitting and have pens with at least two square feet per bird. From natural to free range consumers are bombarded with labels. The certified humane program.

What does free range really mean. Free range is another tricky claim. Somehow we ve associated free range with fresh and somewhere along the line a lot has gotten lost in translation. The meat industry can be confusing to say the least and at worst it can also be horribly corrupt.

Consumer reports greener choices evaluation of the claim free range states. Free range poultry must meet legal requirements. Free range is not the. The rspca states that chickens must have a defined amount of space no more than 13 birds a square metre be 56 days old before they are.

When it comes to food labeling one of the most confusing areas of the supermarket is the meat aisle. The hens may still live in over crowded and unhealthful conditions. The usda has defined free range or free roaming for poultry products but not for eggs. Manuel gallegus explains.

Here s what you should know regarding the free range craze currently happening. There is one organization certifying farms for free range chicken. What this general claim means. Free range cage free means the hens were allowed to wander freely but that wandering can be limited to a hen house.

Unfortunately it is not a usda regulated term so it can mean different things depending on the brand. For other products carrying the free range label there is no standard definition for this term. The free range label requires that the hens be allowed outside.