Quality Assurance
Why Choose Eggs produced under the Bord Bia Quality Assurance Scheme?
The Bord Bia Quality Assurance Scheme
This scheme is designed to build on the general high health status of the country's laying flock by introducing further measures of prevention and control.
Special features of the scheme include:
- All incoming stock for egg laying must have been tested negative for salmonella.
- Ongoing production must be regularly monitored for salmonella on a monthly basis.
- Only heat-treated feed can be used.
- Management systems must ensure full traceability of eggs.
- Each egg carries the logo, best before date, house code and packing centre code.
- Laying farms must be inspected and approved.
- All systems must be independently audited before the Quality Assurance mark is awarded.
Look out for the Bord Bia Quality Assurance logo on egg packaging.
Key Aspects of the Quality Scheme
The Bord Bia Egg Quality Assurance Scheme is a code of best practice covering both the production and packing of eggs. Eggs that are produced and packed in accordance with the requirements of the code will carry the Quality Assured logo on packs, and on point of sale materials in the case of loose sales.
Egg Production
The key aspects of egg production covered in the code include flock sourcing, hygiene, disease control, flock welfare and environmental protection. There is particular emphasis on hygiene and disease control especially on the control of salmonella. The salmonella controls are essentially built around the sourcing of pre-lay birds from approved sources and with relevant documentary evidence; the heat treatment of feed; and routine salmonella testing on the farm. Under Irish legislation flocks infected with salmonella must be slaughtered out. Vaccines or antibiotics cannot be used.
The scheme also lays down detailed provisions on the use of medication, and on flock welfare (including space requirements for caged flocks).
The requirements of the scheme cover both caged, free range and barn/perchery systems.
Egg Packing
The standards for the egg packer include a requirement for a fully developed quality management system that includes a Quality Assurance Control Plan based on the principles of HACCP. Product identification and traceability is a key element of the packer requirements. This ensures that is there is any breach of the quality chain the product can be traced back to the farm of origin and the cause identified at source. It also provides for product recall should the need arise.
Control and Monitoring
In accordance with modern quality management practices monitoring of the scheme will be by audit rather than intensive inspection.