Sainsbury's to phase out battery eggs by 2012

Sainsbury's has announced that it will phase out battery eggs in its stores. Instead, its eggs will be free range or barn eggs - those supplied from farms where hens are kept in large sheds that give them access to daylight. This will replace caged eggs - the product of battery farms where hens are kept in cages and have no access to natural light.

The announcement comes a day after an investigation by The Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs revealed that large numbers of the free-range eggs that appear in supermarkets are nothing of the kind. Instead, unscrupulous suppliers have been labelling the eggs that they are supplying falsely as organic or free range in the face of growing demand.

Sainsbury's pointed out that the provenance of its free-range eggs was guaranteed and that its labelling system ensured that eggs could be traced back to individual farms.

A spokesman said that a date had not been set for the move to be completed but added: 'We're hoping to do it well ahead of 2012. '