Photo: Stockfotos-MG
To provide the highest degree of transparency to the consumer, a comprehensive labelling system is used which gives detailed information on the origin of the eggs.
From 1st January 2004, all eggs in Europe must be stamped with a uniform label.
This label is made up of the following character strings.
Example: 1-DE-1234501
The first number tells you the form of rearing of the laying hen:
0 – Organic
1 – Free-range
2 – Barn
The next combination of letters indicates the country of production:
BE - Belgium
BG - Bulgaria
DE - Germany
DK - Denmark
ES - Spain
FR - France
HR - Croatia
IT - Italy
NL - Netherlands
PL - Poland
RO - Romania
SE - Sweden
SI - Slovenia
Then follows the laying farm number with the hen house number (last number).
In Germany, the federal state can additionally be derived from the first two numbers of the egg farm number:
02 - Hamburg
03 - Lower Saxony
04 - Bremen
05 - North Rhine-Westphalia
06 - Hessen
07 - Rhineland-Palatinate
08 - Baden-Wuerttemberg
10 - Saarland
11 - Berlin
12 - Brandenburg
13 - Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania
14 - Saxony
15 - Saxony-Anhalt
16 - Thuringia
Please note that in Italy and France, letters are also used to denote the farm. For example: 1-IT-123AB456 or 1-FR-ABC01.