The Michigan Attorney General's office recently wrote to Kroger, the supermarket chain, expressing concerns that "Kroger shoppers are being misled into buying eggs from caged hens wrongly thinking they are cage-free."  The letter urged Kroger to add clear signage to its stores "to help consumers understand which eggs, exactly, came from caged chickens and which did not, so as to help them be able to make informed choices on how they spend their hard-earned dollars." 

What is the Michigan AG's concern? 

Progressive think tank and polling firm Data for Progress recently issued a report, Cracking Down on Kroger, which published the results of a survey that it conducted of Kroger's customers.  

According to Data for Progress, the survey shows that Kroger's claims that its eggs are "farm fresh" and "Grade A" falsely communicate to consumers that those eggs always come from hens that were not confined in cages. Data for Progress said that the survey found that 41% of consumers think "farm fresh" means that the eggs are cage-free and that 20% of consumers think that "Grade A" also communicates that the eggs came from hens that are not confined in cages.  Most consumers, however, either were not confused by the claims or had no idea what those claims meant.  

The AG's office saw the report and, apparently, decided to write to Kroger about it.  In a statement, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said, "Grocery shoppers throughout the state should be able to decipher and trust the advertising in whichever grocer they shop.  Grocers must be transparent and honest in their in-store marketing. It is troubling to read reports saying that is not what all customers are experiencing.”

What does "farm fresh" actually communicate? 

Does the claim "farm fresh" actually communicate anything beyond the fact that the product is from a "farm" and the product is "fresh"?  It very well may, but I'm not at all convinced -- at least based on the survey conducted by Data for Progress -- that it communicates that eggs are cage-free.  It does not appear that full details about how the survey was conducted were released, but the information we do have does raise serious questions about the survey's validity.  

After a series of screening questions, the first substantive question that customers were asked was this:  "Some eggs in grocery stores come from chickens confined in cages. These chickens spend their entire lives within small cages which prevent them from moving around or extending their wings. Other eggs in grocery stores come from chickens in cage-free facilities where they are not confined in cages, have access to walk and stretch their wings, and at some facilities, have access to the outdoors. Do you think that your grocery store should post signs in the egg aisle to help you understand which eggs come from chickens confined in cages and which ones come from chickens not confined in cages?"  

Then, after having explained to respondents the concerns about chickens being raised in cages, the survey went on to the next question, which was, "For each of the following egg carton labels, please tell us whether you think these labels indicate eggs that come from chickens confined in cages or eggs that come from chickens not confined cages?"  This is where respondents got to indicate whether they thought "farm fresh" and "Grade A" communicate that the eggs actually come from cage-free hens.  

In other words, after explaining to survey respondents the concerns about chickens being raised in cages, the survey then asked the respondents a leading question about whether two terms -- that have nothing on their face to do with "cage free" -- communicate something about whether the hens were kept in cages.  Given how the survey participants were "educated" about the concerns over raising hens in cages, and the leading question that followed, it raises very serious doubts about the survey's reliability or about whether anything at all can be concluded from the survey (and that's without getting into any other issues about how the survey was conducted). 

Imagine what the results would have been like if consumers weren't conditioned about the issue ahead of time and, instead, were simply asked an open-ended question like, "What does "farm fresh" on a carton of eggs mean to you?"  

So, what does "farm fresh" actually communicate (beyond the obvious)?  The answer is that we simply don't know.