Can I use my hen eggs in cafe baking?

[Nelly]

Next year a friend of mine is opening a cafe/gallery and I will be doing the baking. I've already got some hens (first egg this week!) and by the time the cafe gets going my friend will probably have some too. Will it be okay to use the home-laid eggs in the home-baking or will I need some kind of certification from Defra or somewhere? It would seem such a shame to have to buy in eggs when there are chickens on the doorstep (literally). Food metres rather than food miles should always be encouraged! Anyone know the answer or who I should ask to find out? And oh, it's exciting finding that first egg!

[Snadger]

I gave some to my granchild who took them to school for a cookery lesson................they wouldn't let her use them.

Teacher took them home instead and replaced them with shop bought battery eggs!

[kentish girl]

Thats terrible, a lot of our kids bring in home produced eggs for food tech & theirs is often a better product. I maintain that happy chooks lay the best eggs & make the best cakes

The teacher needs a lesson in egg production. :0

[Glutton4...]

I am certain you will not be allowed to use them. I have a friend with a cafe, and she can't use her eggs or mine! They must be 'stamped' as far as I'm aware, with the 'Lion Mark.' Your local EHO should be able to tell you in greater detail.

Yes, that first egg is wonderful, but then, so are all the rest!

[MaureenHall]

I sell cakes at a local Produce Market and when I had my kitchen inspected by the Environmental Health Officer, I told her that I'd only be using eggs laid by my own hens. She was absolutely fine with it. The only proviso she made was that all the eggs should be washed prior to breaking them (even if they "look" clean), that all the eggs are broken into dishes before baking starts, wash hands thoroughly after touching the eggs. All pretty straightforward really

[Snadger]

I sell cakes at a local Produce Market and when I had my kitchen inspected by the Environmental Health Officer, I told her that I'd only be using eggs laid by my own hens. She was absolutely fine with it. The only proviso she made was that all the eggs should be washed prior to breaking them (even if they "look" clean), that all the eggs are broken into dishes before baking starts, wash hands thoroughly after touching the eggs. All pretty straightforward really

Thats interesting Aunty Mo!

[frias]

If you buy free range eggs from our local farm shop they're not stamped.

[di]

I would think that officially,as it's not your Cafe that you can't...something to do with only being allowed to sell to the person that would be eating them.
Therefore Auntie Mo's OK as she still has no middle man,whereas I'd have thought the cafe will be considered a middle man.

[mr darcy]

Down here where I live in France, all kids up to about the age of 10 take cakes, sweeties etc in to share if their birthday falls on a school day, just recently there's been a move towards not accepting home made cakes in some schools,because of hygeine, eggs, etc only shop ones!! luckilly in my youngest one's school (last year of primary) they are always encouraging homemade food to be brought in, for national tastes day we had all sorts of weird and wonderful homemade offerings including some really yummy morrocan cakes! it's a shame how much our society distrusts unlabelled foods even though the labels can be so misleading!(or just lies!)

[Bramble-Poultry]

but if the owner of the cafe is also keeping hens then there is no problem in using those eggs. I think its absolutely ridiculous state of affairs when you cant use naturally reared fresh free range eggs from birds you know and trust, but have to ditch them in favour of using chemially laden fed hens eggs from god only knows where, where they measure the health and vitality of the stock by a percentage of how many birds died that week, and was it within "acceptable" limits.

[mr darcy]

but if the owner of the cafe is also keeping hens then there is no problem in using those eggs. I think its absolutely ridiculous state of affairs when you cant use naturally reared fresh free range eggs from birds you know and trust, but have to ditch them in favour of using chemially laden fed hens eggs from god only knows where, where they measure the health and vitality of the stock by a percentage of how many birds died that week, and was it within "acceptable" limits.

yes i think that sort of death rate info should be printed on the egg boxes too! to put people off i mean, people who don't even think of it!

[tigress60]

The simply answer is NO
They have to be traceable in case of food poisioning

[zazen999]

The simply answer is NO
They have to be traceable in case of food poisioning

So presumably, if Nelly registers as a supplier then the answer would be 'yes'.

[Bramble-Poultry]

Every EHO has different opinions some say yes soem say no - so simple answer is to speak to your own environmental health officer.

Some require that if you make cakes for sale you need a food handling others don't require it - I use our eggs in my wedding cakes which I sell and I didn't need to register as a egg producer or get a food handling certificate but I got one anyways for the sake of £25

Best to see what your EHO wants
Jennie

[Nelly]

Getting closer to an answer...

Hi everyone, thanks for all your comments. It certainly is a mad world when we can't use local produce locally. Isn't that the best use for it?

Anyway, I have phoned the Environmental Health office and found out that if they are to be used in the cafe then the eggs must be Class A only. This is connected to quality and traceability. To give my eggs Class A status, I would have to become a "registered packing station". I would then be given a number that would be stamped on the eggs. I would have to be inspected by both the Poultry Unit (once known as the Egg Marketing Board) and the local Environmental Health Practitioner. I don't know whether vaccinations are involved.

I asked whether all this would be practicable on a small scale (less than a dozen hens) and was told, possibly. I haven't been able to contact anyone in the Poultry Unit (and Mr. EH wasn't at his desk to give me a number) so I'm not sure of the exact process (or cost) for becoming a registered packing station. When I find out, I will let you know! I'm hoping it is a feasible process because it would be maddening to buy eggs from the Mainland when perfectly good ones are being laid right outside the cafe!

Talking of fresh eggs, I actually caught one as it was laid this morning! I was reaching in to get the two that had already been laid (so they wouldn't get squashed) and the third one landed on my hand as I went past! For some reason, my three brown chooks all go to the same nest box and lay together - moral support since they're all new to this egg-laying lark??