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I don't know if there's a standard in the UK, but in the US, "free-range" doesn't necessarily mean the chickens are allowed outside.

WOW!

I think there's a big difference in the quality of free-range and typical commodity eggs.

"While the USDA has defined the meaning of "free-range" for some poultry products, there are no standards in "free-range" egg production.[...]there is no information on stocking density, the frequency or duration of outdoor access, or the quality of the land accessible to the birds. There is no information regarding what the birds can be fed. Beak cutting and forced molting through starvation are permitted. There is no third-party auditing" source: http://www.hsus.org/farm/resources/pubs/animal_welfare_claims_on_egg_cartons.html

"Typically, free-range egg-laying hens are uncaged inside barns or warehouses and have some degree of outdoor access. They can engage in many natural behaviors such as nesting and foraging."

http://www.hsus.org/farm/resources/pubs/animal_welfare_claims_on_egg_cartons.html

Third-party auditing can be good. Some people want the government to tell them that something is what it is--like with organic food.

But what I have been finding out is that food producers are going beyond industry standards, on their own, in order to meet the increasingly strict demands of the consumer.

Factory farming is not good, obviously. But free-range egg production is a baby step in the right direction. Free-range chickens are a step in the right direction. You can tell the difference in the quality of the product. Often times, better quality means a happier and healthier animal.

did the UK series 'Jimmy's Farm' run in the US?

-he's a childhood buddy of Jamie Oliver's, and an entimologyst, who decides that he wants to raise rare (almost extinct) pigs without cages or a barn (free-range pigs, essentially).

In one episode, he got some hens to lay eggs to supplement the farm produce range (they have a little farm store), and he got rescued battery hens. My god!! those poor creatures -- they were missing half their feathers, they could barely walk, and had never been outside a cage -- they were afraid to move around! after a time, they recovered, and laid some eggs (they were slated for slaughter as their peak egg production was behind them).

Anyways, I suspect that when the British public got a good look at these poor animals in a show as fun and appealing as this (it wasn't an animal rights doc), that there was a huge public push for free range eggs. could be wrong, I am not in the UK, but I was sure shocked...

here's a bit of info on it:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/6161223.stm

and (of course) Jamie Oliver is a patron of the charity
http://www.bhwt.org.uk/patrons.php

Thanks for all the links. The link from Dvizzl states, at the bottom, the European Union has required all eggs be clearly labeled as to what "free-range" actually means so this may mean good news for the Hellmen's chickens as no such requirements are used here.

I think if people actually knew what "free-range" means in America (possible access to the outdoors, open warehouses, beak cutting and starvation to increase molting still allowed)vs the picture of happy chickens out in the farm yard that are on the carton there would be public pressure to improve conditions. Hopefully we are getting closer to transparency as more interest in food evolves.

Here is one third party auditor people may be interested in. They are called Certified Humane:

http://www.certifiedhumane.org/