Chickens in colony cages. Photo: Supplied
An animal welfare expert says the labels on colony eggs are misleading customers.
Although battery caged hens have been banned since 2022, colony cages - which are much larger but house dozens of hens - are still allowed.
"The problem is colony cages really aren't that much better than a battery cage, the only difference is it's really big as a cage," University of Auckland associate law professor Marcelo Rodriguez Ferrere said.
"But if you put 60 to 80 hens in it they actually only have about the same space they had in a battery cage."
The Egg Producers Federation of New Zealand's website stated colonies had "a minimum of 750 square centimetres per hen," and the number of hens per cage could range from 20 to 80.
Woolworths had transitioned to exclusively cage-free eggs by the end of 2024, with Foodstuffs committed to follow by 2027.
"Although both major supermarket chains have committed to phasing out caged eggs, there are plenty of other retailers, The Warehouse for instance, that have no such plans to ban them," Ferrere said.
"Those eggs you'll find on the shelves of those stores will say things like 'colony eggs' or 'farm fresh' and not mention the word cage anywhere. Your average consumer has absolutely no idea what colony means and it doesn't give a very good indication of how the eggs are produced."
He said that was misleading and stopped consumers from making an informed decision.
"If consumers are to make a choice then I think it's important for manufacturers to just own up and say they come from caged hens.
"They're at a very, very low price point, so consumers can make an informed choice about whether they want to save a couple of bucks. Some consumers will pick the cheap eggs and won't mind, and that's fine. But right now they don't have the information in front of them."
RNZ has approached the Egg Producers Federation for comment.
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