Consumers can be assured of the high quality of the eggs they buy following the introduction of a new standard in egg production.
Egg-packers will tomorrow receive acknowledgement of the new standards and controls when the Minister for Agriculture and Food, Mr Walsh, presents them with certification under the new scheme.
The scheme was introduced by Bord Bia following requests from the Irish Egg Association, representing egg-packers, to move an original quality assurance scheme, introduced in 2000, to a higher level.
Yesterday, Mr John Keane, manager of the quality assurance division of Bord Bia, said that the 21 packing centres which would be receiving certification represented 75 per cent of the centres in the State. "The certification is an acknowledgement of the industry reaching a standard which is as high as any comparable sector anywhere in the world," he said.
Standards were monitored by auditors hired by Bord Bia, Mr Keane said. Every farm and egg-packer was audited annually.