Labelling needs to be supported by law

New Zealand's current labelling laws do not give consumers the information they want and need to make good purchasing decisions, the Green Party said today.

Last night's Target programme investigated the labelling of eggs in terms of animal welfare and highlighted how the current labels can be misleading to consumers about the actual quality of life of the chickens that laid the eggs.

"We have many producers in New Zealand that are leading the charge in animal welfare and they need to be able to communicate that through labelling," Green Party spokesperson on animal welfare Mojo Mathers said today.

"Current labelling laws are hanging progressive businesses out to dry by not giving them the ability to differentiate their product from those that don't have high animal welfare standards.

"New Zealanders like to do the right thing and feel rightly upset that the labelling on eggs is not helping them to do that.

"Should Minister Carter decide to bring in colony cages, then accurate labelling will become even more important so that consumers can easily identify which eggs are produced by these cruel systems.

"The Green Party wants better labelling laws - ones that protect New Zealanders right to know through labelling that is informative and easy to understand.