The free-range egg market in Israel is growing: An increasing number of consumers are willing to pay twice the cost for eggs laid by hens raised in humane conditions, and seven million eggs are marketed as "free-range" every year - 0.4 percent of all eggs sold.

But the definition of free range eggs is not determined by law or official regulation: The only organization that conducts inspections, Hai-Meshek, is not officially recognized by government authorities, and conducts voluntary checks. There are two big free range egg marketers in Israel: Teva Gav and Min HaTeva Be'erotaim. While Teva Gav is subject to Hai-Meshek's voluntary inspection, Min HaTeva refuses to open its chicken coops even to their voluntary supervision. A senior source in the company remarked: "We don't let Hai-Meshek oversee us, because they demand a great deal of money to do so. Anyone is invited to come and see the chickens themselves."

Hai-Meshek explains that "marketers have an economic incentive to sell regular eggs as free-range, because they are free from price regulation, and can be sold at a far higher price. The Agriculture Ministry is doing nothing to correct the situation. A ministry spokesman responded that "the ministry is responsible only for the public health aspect in supervision of eggs," and pointed to the Industry, Trade and Labor Ministry. A spokesman at the latter ministry immediately pointed back to the Agriculture Ministry.

	Advertisement

And deception in the sector is not limited to the sale of regular eggs as free range: Hagalil brand egg cartons, for instance, are labeled with the company name, M. Lesser, which controls 11 percent of the national egg market. Their eggs are described as "pampered" and "happy." The truth is far from the idyllic description on the package: "Every 50x60 cm, 25 cm high cage houses eight or nine hens, who cannot move, and are squashed against each other," reported members of an anonymous association that visited the site. A TheMarker reporter who visited the site confirms this. A spokesman on Lesser's behalf responded: "Lesser is careful to market Hagalil eggs from modern hen houses equipped with technological innovations, in accordance with every law and accepted standard for the cultivation of poultry."