This section details the required information for egg pack labels and loose eggs, aligning with Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 on provision of food information to consumers, and Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2023/2465 on marketing standards for eggs.
Mandatory food information must be accurate, clear, and easy to understand for the consumer. It must be presented in an easily visible, clearly legible, and indelible manner, appearing in a language that is easily understood in the market where the product is sold.
The mandatory food information provided must be printed in such a way as to ensure clear legibility, in characters using a font size where the x-height is equal to or greater than 1.2mm (as defined in Annex IV to Regulation (EU) 1169/2011)
The following mandatory information must appear directly on the egg package or on an attached label:
- The name of the food*
- Number of eggs in the pack (The net quantity of the food*)
- The date of minimum durability or “best before” date for eggs shall be fixed at no more than 28 days after the date of lay.
- As a special storage condition in accordance with Article 9(1), point (g), of Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 an indication advising consumers to keep eggs refrigerated after purchase.
- The name or business name and address of the food business operator
- The country of origin or place of provenance where its absence may mislead
- The consumer as to the true origin or provenance of the food
*The name of the food and quantity of eggs shall appear in the same field of vision.
Additional information and markings required on packs containing Class A eggs
The following information must appear on the outer surface of the egg packs, in easily visible and clearly legible script:
- the packing centre code;
- the quality grading - packs must be identified either by the words ‘Class A’ or the letter ‘A’ whether alone or in combination with the word ‘fresh’ or ‘fresh eggs:
- the weight grading;
The farming method must also be on the outer surface of the pack, in easily visible and clearly legible type. Only the following terms can be used:
- ‘Organic eggs’,
- ‘free range eggs’,
- ‘barn eggs’ or
- ‘eggs from enriched caged hens”.
These terms can only be used if the production system has been registered with DAFM. The producer code is provided as proof of the registration.
Organic eggs must have the ‘Euro-leaf’ organic logo, the words ‘Certified Organic’, the code number of the control authority or control body, and an indication of the place where the agricultural raw materials were farmed.
Eggs sold loose
For eggs sold loose the following information must be provided to the consumer, at the point of sale, in an easily visible and clearly legible manner:
- the quality grading;
- the weight grading;
- an indication of the farming method;
- an explanation of the meaning of the producer code;
- Best Before Date (set at no more than 28 days from date of laying as per amended Regulation (EC) No 853/2004, Annex III, Section X, Chapter I, Point 4).
Loose eggs must be kept clean, dry, and odour-free, protected from damage and sunlight from the farm to the store. They need to be stored and transported at ambient temperature to maintain quality.
Information displayed on transport packaging
Egg producers transporting eggs to an approved egg packing centre must ensure that all transport packaging containing eggs (trays, trolleys, boxes, etc) is labelled with the following information:
• the producer’s name and address.
• the producer code.
• the number of eggs and/or their weight.
• the laying date or period.
• the date of dispatch.
The information referred to above must be on the transport packaging and be contained in accompanying documents.
In the case of packing centres supplied with unpacked eggs from their own production units, situated at the same site, identification on transport packaging may take place at the packing centre.
A copy of these documents must be kept by any intervening operator to whom the eggs are delivered. The originals of the accompanying documents must be kept by the packing centre that grades the eggs.
Where batches received by an egg collector are subdivided for delivery to more than one operator, the accompanying documents can be substituted by appropriate transport container labels, provided that these include the information referred to above.
The required information which is applied to the transport packaging must not be modified and must remain on the transport packaging until removal of eggs for immediate grading, marking, packing or further processing.
The general traceability requirements for all foods must also be taken into account. See our traceability section for more information. As eggs are products of animal origin, the specific traceability requirements of 931/2011 apply.
Other Retail Systems
Eggs sold through other retail systems such as vending machines that are not located on farm are subject to the same requirements as retail, catering establishments and the food service sector.
Record keeping
Egg collectors must keep detailed daily records of the eggs collected and delivered. Collectors may keep files of invoices and delivery notes providing this information.
Egg packing centres must keep detailed daily records of all eggs received, graded, and delivered, to other packing centres, and final purchasers. They need to update their stock records weekly and maintain separate records for eggs with specific feeding labels (e.g. corn fed).
Producers, collectors, and approved egg packing centres records must be kept for at least 12 months from the date of their creation.
For further information and the extensive list of records to be kept by producers, collectors and packing centres, please visit Legislation on eggs section.