Attorney General to grocers: Clear up cage-free egg confusion
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Cage-free or caged? What’s the difference?
There appears to be confusion in the egg aisles at some Michigan grocery stores over eggs sold as “cage-free” and those that are not.
On Wednesday, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel’s office urged grocery stores to clear up any confusion and identify which eggs came from chickens kept in or out of cages.
Eggs that are sold as “cage-free” mean the hens were not kept in cages and are, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), “able to freely roam a building, room or enclosed area with unlimited access to food and fresh water during their production cycle.”
But that’s not always a rosy picture of hens scrambling in the open air. The hens, according to Consumer Reports, “can be kept indoors, often in crowded conditions.”
SpartanNash on notice
The Attorney General’s office sent a letter to SpartanNash, based in Bryon Center, and CEO Tony Sarsam citing recent polling indicating “SpartanNash customers may be confused – in part due to egg carton labeling – about which eggs come from cage-free chickens.”
According to the letter, the goal is to help consumers make “informed choices” on which eggs to buy.
The letter was signed by Jason Evans, of the attorney general’s corporate oversight division chief, and cited a report from a Positive Sum Strategies poll, highlighting “widespread confusion” over egg labeling at SpartanNash stores.
Positive Sum Strategies polled over 1,000 SpartanNash customers over four days in early June.
The poll results suggested a “disconnect between consumer sentiment about high-welfare products and purchase decisions is attributable to consumer confusion about labeling.”
“Due to egg carton designs and marketing claims, many SpartanNash customers believe that eggs from caged chickens are cage-free,” according to the report.
SpartanNash operates 147 stores under several banners, including D&W Fresh Market, Family Fare, Family Fare Fresh Market, and VG’s grocery stores across nine states, including Michigan. According to its website, SpartanNash's whole food distribution operation distributes products to more than 2,100 independent retail locations nationwide.
Positive Sum Strategies' report also noted SpartanNash’ 2016 announcement to “exclusively selling cage-free eggs by 2025,” which, according to the company’s 2022 ESG (environmental, social governance) report, was rescinded due to “softness in customer demand for cage-free eggs across our footprint, and some state regulations requiring conventional eggs be sold alongside cage-free eggs in order to participate in state-funded food assistance programs.”
An email sent Friday by the Free Press on Friday to SpartanNash seeking comment was not returned.
Seeking accountability
The letter urges adding clear signage at SpartanNash stores to “help consumers understand which eggs, exactly, came from caged chickens and which did not, so as to help them be able to make informed choices on how they spend their hard-earned dollars.”
Josh Balk, CEO and founder of the Accountability Board, applauded the letter.
The Accountability Board, Balk says, invests in and is a shareholder in companies, including SpartanNash, ensuring there is accountability.
“It’s a dramatic shift forward when it comes to the treatment of chickens, product quality, and food safety,” Balk said. “Especially with grocery prices wreaking havoc on families, people shouldn’t also have to worry about being misled in buying one type of product when it’s another.”
In March 2023, Dana Nessel sent a similar letter to the Kroger Co. CEO, also urging the chain to add clear signage citing a poll revealing Kroger’s “marketing of caged chicken eggs is both confusing and misleading, at best.”
A new Michigan law set to take effect in 2025 will prohibit the sale of eggs from caged hens. Michigan joins several other states in adopting cage-free legislation. Other states already on board are California, Colorado, Washington, Oregon, and Rhode Island.
At many grocery stores, consumers face a dizzying array of labels on egg cartons.Here’s what they all mean, according to the USDA, which verifies and checks through onsite farm visits twice a year.
How to decipher egg cartons:
Here are egg terms according to the American Egg Board, Consumer Reports and the United States Department of Agriculture:
Cage-free
Hens that lay these eggs are not housed in cages or enclosures and are allowed to roam freely in a building, room, or open area and have unlimited access to food and water. The USDA doesn’t require the hens to have access to the outdoors.
Pasture-raised
Laid by hens who roam and forage on a maintained pasture area. The USDA does not recognize a labeling definition for pastured eggs as no standards are established.
Free-range
Laid by hens not housed in cages and are allowed to roam with continuous access to the outdoors during their laying cycle and unlimited access to food and water. The outdoor area may be fenced and/or covered with netting-like material.
Certified organic
Laid by cage-free or free-range hens raised on certified organic feed and have access to the outdoors.
No antibiotics
Egg-laying hens were raised without any antibiotic of any type.
No hormones added
Hormones are not permitted to be given to chickens ever, so this term is no different than eggs sold without it. If a label states this, the USDA says, it must be followed by a statement that “federal regulations prohibit the use of hormones.”
Omega-3 enriched
These eggs are laid by hens whose diet includes items such as flaxseed, algae, and fish oil to boost their omega-3 content.
Vitamin enriched
Eggs laid by hens whose diets may include alfalfa, rice bran, and sea kelp to produce eggs with more vitamins B, A, D, and E.
Contact Detroit Free Press food writer Susan Selasky and send food and restaurant news to: sselasky@freepress.com. Follow @SusanMariecooks on X (formerly Twitter.) Support local journalism and become a digital subscriber to the Free Press.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan Attorney General to grocers: Clear up cage-free egg confusion
