Free-range hens: The future egg safety conundrum?

On a recent trip to Europe I had the opportunity to visit some free-range layer houses. The barns look much like the other layer houses that I saw on my visit, they just had the “dog doors” on the side of the house. Just like “pasture-raised” hen farms in the U.S., there are no barriers to exposure to rodents, birds or insects for hens outside the house. I couldn’t help but think of the lengths that U.S. egg producers go to, whether in houses equipped with cages or aviaries, to keep rodents and flies out of their houses. The measures are undertaken for biosecurity reasons, both to protect the health of the hens and to insure the safety of the eggs for consumers.I can only imagine what an inspection report would read like after a free-range farm is implicated in a Salmonellosis outbreak. Consumers don’t understand that outdoor access means more hen mortality and a greater food safety risk.