The largest dedicated free-range egg producer and packer in the Republic of Ireland has singed a new partnership with product and supply chain traceability specialist Oritain.

The partnership will see Oritain verifying the origin of Margaret Eggs’ Happily Free Range Eggs across several specially seleced farms.

The two organisations started working together last year, developing a programme to protect the integrity of their eggs and high animal welfare standards.

Margaret’s Eggs is now the first of any company in the Republic of Ireland to be Oritain certified.

Global mislabelling and food fraud scandals damage consumer trust and increase cynicism over claims of provenance and product integrity.

Industry quality standards such as the Sustainable Egg Assurance Scheme look to address these issues and highlight product identification and traceability as key requirements.

Now, Oritain’s innovative scientific method will provide independent verification that Margaret’s Happily Free Range Eggs have been produced on farms that adhere to the highest possible standard of animal welfare, reassuring customers that those exact standards make their way all the way to the kitchen table.

Oritain’s technology is derived from forensic science, analysing intrinsic properties of products that are unique to the environment in which they are grown.

When applied to Margaret’s Happily Free Range Eggs, Oritain will be able to trace the eggs back to the exact farm they came from through the unique ‘fingerprint’ of each farm, which cannot be produced any other way.

“Recent food scandals have caused a global crisis of trust in the food we eat. Companies are searching for solutions to protect the integrity of products and, ultimately, their relationship with customers. Each egg has an intrinsic chemical fingerprint that can tell Oritain wher it has come from, which cannot be altered or counterfeited,” said Grant Cochrane, CEO of Oritain.

“Margaret’s is using Oritain’s services to independently verify the provenance and integrity of its eggs.

“By tracing the origin of the eggs, we can assure Margaret’s customers that its eggs are produced to the highest standards of animal welfare.”