Monash University, Faculty of Law, Monash University Law Chambers, 555 Lonsdale St, Melbourne, VIC 3000, Australia.
J Bioeth Inq. 2013 Jun;10(2):165-86. doi: 10.1007/s11673-013-9448-5. Epub 2013 May 21.
This paper investigates what "free-range" eggs are available for sale in supermarkets in Australia, what "free-range" means on product labelling, and what alternative "free-range" offers to cage production. The paper concludes that most of the "free-range" eggs currently available in supermarkets do not address animal welfare, environmental sustainability, and public health concerns but, rather, seek to drive down consumer expectations of what these issues mean by balancing them against commercial interests. This suits both supermarkets and egg producers because it does not challenge dominant industrial-scale egg production and the profits associated with it. A serious approach to free-range would confront these arrangements, and this means it may be impossible to truthfully label many of the "free-range" eggs currently available in the dominant supermarkets as free-range.
本文调查了在澳大利亚超市中可买到哪些“散养”鸡蛋，产品标签上的“散养”是什么意思，以及笼养生产的其他“散养”替代品。本文得出的结论是，目前超市中大多数“散养”鸡蛋并没有解决动物福利、环境可持续性和公共卫生问题，而是试图通过平衡商业利益来降低消费者对这些问题的期望。这对超市和鸡蛋生产商都有利，因为这不会对主导的工业规模鸡蛋生产及其相关利润构成挑战。认真对待“散养”问题会使这些安排受到挑战，这意味着目前在主导超市中出售的许多“散养”鸡蛋可能无法如实贴上“散养”标签。
