THE EGG INDUSTRY

Evening Post, Volume CVII, Issue 131, 4 June 1924, Page 16

THE EGG INDUSTRY

. ' ' — '■ —♦ — AN ULSTER BILL. . (FROM OUR OWN 'CORRESPONDENT.)' LONDON, 17th April. A Bill for the purpose of combating abuses in the egg trade has been prepared and presented in the Northern Ireland Parliament. It.-is expected that this, will be in' operation in the course of a month or two. All pickled and preserved eggs, it. seems, are- to bo branded, and in the category of "preserved" are those kept in cool store. s The Bill provides that -.every "wholesale dealer will require a license from the Ulster Ministry of Agriculture, and the issue of licenses will be conditional on compliance with regulations .to be laid down\ with regard to the proper testing, grading, and packing of eggs and. their freshness. Merchants who cold-store, preserve, or pickle eggs -will have to register their premises, which will be liable to official inspection, and all such eggs must be appropriately marked, e.g., "pickled," -when exposed for sale in retail shops. Local market authorities are called upon to aid the work by providing suitable accommodation at the egg markets. "The importance of this new measure," -writes an agricultural correspondent, ■ "can be gauged fairly accurately from a single comparison. In 1923 over 3£ million great hundreds (120) of eggs were se;it -from Northern Ireland ports to Great Britain, and the total imports into'the United Kingdom from _ foreign countries and th e colonies was^ just over 20 million great hundreds. .It is claimed that legislation, such as this,, which' tends to improve the marketing of agricultural produce, will receive the unstinted-support of consumers, who will welcome the advent of the fresher egg. for the breakfast table. The sale :as fresh eggs of eggs which 'have been kept in cold store, or -which have been preserved, has been of all-too-fre-quent occurrence, and official steps to prevent the possibility of any such iraud will, have the hearty support of producers, consumers/ and reputable dealers." ' '■•.-■•• ■ ' ■