Consumer watchdog Choice has revealed the winner of its first ever people’s choice shonkiest shonky award, ecoeggs.
The public was encouraged to vote for their favourite shonky following the eighth annual Shonky Awards last week which featured eight begrudging shonky recipients including Dairy Farmers whose Dairy Farmers' Oats Express Liquid Breakfast was recognised for its misleading claims. (The product depicted images of banana slices and a honey dripper, yet only contains banana extract and no honey)
Choice received a total of 2,512 votes for the people’s choice award and ecoeggs came out on top with a landslide victory of 919 votes for its shonky free range claims.
Ecoeggs’ declared stocking density of 20,000 birds per hectare was found to be more than 13 times the free range limit of 1,500 defined in the national model code of practice.
“ecoeggs met several of the Shonkys criteria through consumer confusion, consumer frustration and plain outrage. The people have spoken, and ecoeggs have been crowned the People’s Choice Shonkiest Shonky,” says Choice spokesman Tom Godfrey.
ecoeggs contacted Choice following the Shonkys and posted a statement on their website rejecting the award, and revealing they had in fact halved their stocking density to 10,000 birds per hectare – however their cartons still displayed densities of 20,000.
“With an increasing number of Australians paying a premium based on ‘free range’ claims, Choice thinks it’s crucial consumers have confidence they get what they pay for, and an enforceable national standard would achieve that,” said Godfrey.
“At the moment, we have the farcical situation where eggs produced anywhere from less than 750 birds per hectare to over 20,000 are carrying ‘free range’ claims. This is not a case of saying consumers have to buy eggs at 1,500 birds per hectare or lower – but it is a case of ensuring Australians who want to make an ethical purchasing decision don’t get ripped off.”
Choice submitted its second ever ‘super-complaint’ last month to NSW Fair Trading, requesting that the government body investigate whether 'free-range' egg claims are misleading consumers.
In the super-complaint Choice demonstrated that on average, free range eggs can cost up to twice as much as caged eggs and close to a fifth more than barn eggs. Despite the significant increase in price, Choice says that consumers cannot be confident that they are purchasing a truly free range product as there is no consistency in industry standards.
Choice is expecting to receive a response from NSW Fair Trading before the end of the year.