What began with a simple, yet superbly successful, marketing stunt by supermarket chain Iceland developed into a direct assault on the values that the free range industry stands for. Iceland harvested media exposure worth hundreds of thousands of pounds simply by raising the issue of yolk colour.
The public ’revelation’ that 95% of eggs are ’doctored’ with colorants to produce deeper coloured yolks was good enough to interest all our national newspapers and radio stations, particularly as it was backed by a slick press release and picture service from Iceland, including snaps showing yolk colours produced by various levels of added colorant. This gave the company a stunning launch for its new ’pale yolk’ eggs, which it announced, were to be produced using no artificial colorants. It also caught the entire egg industry flat footed.
The only official response was that egg producers knew exactly what the housewife wanted (a yolk rated 9 or 10 on the Roche scale) because it had asked her – 30 years ago. Free range escaped the first onslaught but then the Daily Mail then carried out chemical analysis of 12 packs of free range eggs bought in major supermarkets. It found not only the safe colorants citranaxanthin (E1611) and beta-apo 8 carotenol (E160) but in eggs produced in Germany and sold by Lidl it discovered canthaxanthin E161g which was banned from food products because of links with eye disorders.
The revelations – under the headline ’Free range chemicals’ – were not only profoundly damaging in themselves but gave critics a chance to pile in with other allegations against commercial free range – including the utterly inaccurate assertion that ’hens often have little access to outside space.’ The story also, incidentally, gave Iceland another chance to plug its own image and products.
The ’chemical’ attack is of course utterly unfair and unreasonable on all those producers and marketeers who use only ’natural’ products to enhance yolk colour. But it also raised a series of questions for all producers. The Ranger has tried to seek out some of the answers.
1. What’s the colour of a ’natural’ egg?
A free ranging hen will achieve a yolk colour with a Roche score of around 8 or 9 in spring and summer when she is ingesting quantities of growing grass as well as bugs, worms etc. In winter this will fall to around 4 or 5. But backyard poultry keepers say that in reality they never notice the seasonal difference.
2. So why bother to add any colorant?
Given that some birds range more than others, large flock producers believe that colorants are necessary to ’even out’ the differences between individual layers as well as disguising seasonal differences. Packers require a Roche rating of between 9 and 12 and claim that the supermarkets demand it.
3. Who Insists On What?
The Soil Association insists that laying hens must not be fed anything that is not necessary for the nutritional well being of the bird. But it demands only 80% of the feed must be truly organic. So producers include ’natural’ colorants, like grassmeal, in the other 20%. The RSPCA’s Freedom Food regulations make no mention of the issue because yolk colour is not a welfare issue. The Lion Code allows man made chemicals but specifically bans Canthaxanthin E161g as found in the eggs sold by Lidl.
4. Who Uses What?
We have no idea how many producers use chemical colorants, how many use those that are extracted only from ’natural’ sources and how many insist on affecting yolk colour by feeding only naturally occurring products like grassmeal, marigold meal and prairie meal. But because the pigment extracted from marigolds is now cheaper than the made-made colorant it is believed that the majority of feeds now contain this ’natural’ yellow. It is odd therefore than the Daily Mail probe actually found Beta-Apo 8 Carotenal to be so prevalent. Naturally occurring red pigments are more expensive and so it is reasonable to assume that many producers use citranaxanthin on economic grounds. Without a red pigment yolks will not reach the rating of Roche 11 or 11.5 demanded by supermarkets.
5. What Does The Housewife want?
The answer is we simply don’t know. The research on which the industry relies was carried out around 30 years ago and involved asking 150 housewives in the North of England what colour yolk they preferred. They chose a Roche rating of 9 which, by sheer chance, was what the average producer was turning out. Why supermarkets now demand Roche 11 is unexplained. The most inexcusable aspect of the whole yolk debacle is that no one has bothered to carry out any research since. The British Egg Industry Council says it now has the issue ’under review’.
6. Are Lower Roche Ratings Acceptable?
Iceland has set sales booming by advertising its pale yolks (Roche 6 or 7) as being ’more natural’ – in other words they have turned the market on its head. Deep coloured yolks may now become regarded as ’unnatural and unhealthy’. Organic eggs have for years been using the ’pale’ marketing approach. The same message is also used by individual producer marketeers like BFREPA member Gerry Tuff who aims for a Roche rating of 5 in his up-market Martin Pitt eggs. "We find that customers like London restaurants simply do not want a rich orangey colour yolk," explains Gerry. "They are making dishes like soufflés and are happier with a lemony yellow. Overall the colour we go for is what we call a sunshine yellow." And in terms of the housewives’ choice, yolk colour comes only third in the list of most important factors which influence egg buying habits (a long way behind taste and freshness). And individuals who have spent a lifetime in the industry say consumer complaints about yolk colour are all but unheard of.
7. What Do ’Natural’ Colorants Cost?
Man made colorants cost around £2-£3 a tonne. To achieve its pale yolk colour Iceland is to use only ’natural products’ like grass meal, which adds yellow tinges. The reds can be mixed in with the help of prairie meal (based on maize). But totally natural products will produce yolks with a Roche rating several levels below the supermarket-demanded 11. Reaching a Roche 9 will cost an extra £8 a tonne, when the ’bulking up’ factor is taken into account – that’s an extra 1.7p a dozen. But there are ’natural’ sources of red pigment processed into products that avoid adding extra bulk. For example Kemin UK produces Orange Glo, a liquid based on marigolds and paprika which can reach the Roche 11 level demanded by the supermarkets. According to the company’s UK Manager, Martin Collier, net increase in cost will be around £5 a tonne – the equivalent of around 1p a dozen.
