Eggs and egg products

Animal rights activists complain about “importing animal suffering”

The hens are crammed so tightly together in battery cages that they can no longer stretch their limbs.

(Bild: Paylessimages - stock.adobe.com)

While cage farming has been banned in Austria since 2020, this torturous practice is still commonplace in countries from which eggs are imported. Animal suffering is being imported into the Alpine republic, warn animal rights activists.

Austria imported 24,985 tons of eggs and egg products last year. Half of these came from Germany, followed by imports from the Czech Republic (2876 tons) and Poland (2666 tons), according to the animal welfare organization "Vier Pfoten", which is calling for more labelling requirements.

According to AMA-Marketing, there are 7.3 million officially registered laying hens in Austria. 4.1 million live in barn systems, 2.2 million on free-range farms and just under a million on organic farms. According to "Vier Pfoten", 70 percent of animals in Poland and 56 percent in the Czech Republic are kept in cages. And eggs from these caged hens play an important role in processed products such as sauces, pasta and pastries

(Bild: Tanja/stock.adobe.com)

An Austrian eats an average of 248 eggs per year
Eggs in all their variations and uses are popular in Austria all year round, emphasized AMA-Marketing in a press release on Thursday, regardless of "World Egg Day" on Friday (11 October). According to the report, 248 eggs are consumed per capita per year in this country. Sales per household rose by 5.3 percent this year in the first half of the year compared to the same period in 2023 and by 6.1 percent in terms of value.

According to a survey by AMA-Marketing ("RollAMA"), 51% of eggs sold in food retail in the first half of 2024 were barn eggs. 37% came from conventional free-range systems and 12% from organic free-range systems. This illustrates "the continuing trend towards free-range eggs". Around 90 percent of the eggs sold on the market bear the AMA seal of quality.

According to the animal welfare campaigners, every second imported egg is processed or ends up in the food service industry. "In 2023, at 281 million, it was even more than fresh eggs (251 million)," says "Vier Pfoten".

40 percent of laying hens in the EU live in cages
In the EU, almost 40 percent of laying hens still live in cages. In addition, there are imports from third countries. Last year, almost 152 tons of eggs were imported from Ukraine and 63 tons from China, according to Vier Pfoten.