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Guidance Leaflet

Farmgate / Honesty Box Sale of Eggs to the Final Consumer

IMAGE: The Orkney Islands Council crest and wordmark appear at the top right, identifying the council as the issuing authority.

This guidance document provides information on the requirements to sell loose ungraded eggs from your own premises such as from an honesty box.

Different requirements apply if you sell eggs to retailers and/or caterers, please refer to – “Guidance Leaflet, Requirements for the Sale of Eggs to Retailers and Caterers”.

If you sell loose ungraded eggs from your own premises, such as an honesty box, you will need to be registered as a food business. Registration is free and the form can be found in the Environmental Health, Food Safety section of Orkney Islands Council’s website.

Additional advice should also be sought from the Animal and Plant Health Agency’s (APHA) Egg and Poultry Unit, see below for contact information.

The eggs you sell must not be individually marked with any information but accompanied by a Best Before date only.

The Best Before date must be a maximum of 28 days from the date of laying.

All eggs must be sold to the consumer within 21 days of laying i.e. 7 days before the Best Before date. Therefore, good stock rotation is required to ensure that they are sold a minimum of 7 days before the Best Before date.

Storage

In order to keep the eggs you sell in good condition, when storing them they must be:

  • Protected from changes to and extremes of temperature; between 5 °C and 17 °C is suitable.
  • dry, out of direct sunlight and away from other goods that might flavour them, such as onions or washing powder.

You should also consider:

  • handling them as little as possible, as small cracks will cause the eggs to deteriorate and lose weight
  • taking care when storing trays on top of each other, as this may cause the eggs to crack

Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) Registration

From 1st September 2024 all bird keepers, regardless of flock size or species, must register with APHA. This is to help protect the health of kept birds and the public from the risk of avian disease such as avian influenza. The only exception to this is for caged pet birds kept entirely inside a domestic dwelling, such as parrots, budgies etc, and which never leave the property other than to visit a vet or other short-term period.

Contacts

Environmental Health

Environmental Health
Orkney Islands Council
Planning and Regulatory Services
Development and Infrastructure
Orkney Islands Council, Council Offices, Kirkwall, Orkney. KW15 1NY

01856 873 535
env.health@orkney.gov.uk
Orkney.gov.uk

Poultry Unit Contacts

General Enquiries for Scotland: Joe Kirk (Branch Head)
Directorate for Agriculture and Rural Economy
Animal Health & Welfare Division
Poultry Unit HQ, P Spur
Saughton House, Broomhouse Drive
EDINBURGH, EH11 3XD
Tel: 0300 244 9972
Fax: 0300 244 9916
Eggs_and_Poultry_Mailbox@gov.scot or Joe.kirk@gov.scot

Or for Orkney:

Molly Beattie (Poultry Officer)
Office Address: As per HQ
Tel: 0300 244 8110 or 07867324207
Email: Molly.Beattie@gov.scot

Key legislation

IMAGE: The Orkney Islands Council crest and wordmark appear at the top right, identifying the council as the issuing authority.

  • Food Safety Act 1990
  • The Food Hygiene (Scotland) Regulations 2006
  • Regulation (EC) No 178/2002 laying down the general principles and requirements of food law, establishing the European Food Safety Authority and laying down procedures in matters of food safety (legislation.gov.uk)
  • Regulation (EC) No 852/2004 on the hygiene of foodstuffs
  • Regulation (EC) No 853/2004 laying down specific hygiene rules for food of animal origin (Annex III, section X)
  • The Welfare of Farmed Animals (Scotland) Regulations 2010 (legislation.gov.uk)
  • Regulation (EC) No 589/2008 laying down detailed rules for implementing Regulation (EC) No 1234/2007 as regards marketing standards for eggs
  • The Eggs (Marketing Standards) (Enforcement) (Scotland) Regulations 2005 (legislation.gov.uk)
  • Poultry inspections (ruralpayments.org)
  • Eggs and Chicks (Scotland) Regulations 2010 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)
  • Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 on the provision of food information to consumers

IMAGE: The Orkney Islands Council crest and wordmark appear at the top right, identifying the council as the issuing authority.