What do you know about eggs? If you buy eggs from the store, are you particular about what you buy, or do you grab the cheapest dozen you can find? Are expensive eggs better? What do terms like cage free, free range, pastured, organic, and vegetarian fed really mean? And how fresh is a carton labeled “fresh eggs”? Let’s find out.
First, a short history lesson. Until the 1930s, most eggs came from small farms. Farmers would sell their excess eggs to local stores or at farmer’s markets. As egg demand increased, flock sizes grew to keep up. But with outdoor chickens came the problems of predators, weather, parasites, and food control (larger, more aggressive birds eating more and leaving less for others). To improve profitability, the chickens were moved indoors. Predators, weather, and parasites could be controlled, but now sanitation was a problem because chickens poop a lot! Chickens were placed on screen floors so the poop would drop down. By the 1950s, cages were widely used. Now sanitation was improved, feed delivery was efficient, aggressive behavior was controlled, and labor was reduced. Enter the modern era of egg production. In America, nearly 300 million chickens produce 83 billion eggs per year.[1] So what kind of environment do the chickens live in?
Caged Eggs. Caged eggs come from chickens that live their life in a small cage called a battery cage. The battery cage evolved to improve health and efficiency, reduce labor and feed costs, improve safety and health, which all leads to profitability. The loser in all this efficiency is the chicken itself. In the US, recommended minimum cage size is 67 square inches per bird.[2] Think about that. A sheet of notebook paper is 93.5 square inches. Often the cage holds several chickens. The space prevents the bird from extending its wings, turning, or ruffling its feathers. And no nesting or dust bathing since they live on wire. Birds often peck each other in the cramped quarters, so beak trimming is used to prevent injuries. Beak trimming is commonly used in caged and non-caged chickens. In 2020, caged eggs accounted for 76% of all eggs produced in the USA.[3] As of March 2020, California, Massachusetts, Washington, Michigan, Ohio, and Rhode Island had passed laws banning or phasing out the use of battery cages.[4]
Cage Free Eggs. Cage free chicken houses offer a significant improvement to the welfare of the chicken. The minimum space of 180 square inches per chicken is nearly triple that of the caged environment. That’s still less space than two sheets of notebook paper. But the chicken now has the space to spread its wings, lay in a nest box, and dust bathe. The improved living conditions have caused many companies that sell or use eggs to make commitments to buy only cage free eggs by 2025.[5] But cage free chickens don’t have access to the outdoors.
Free Range Eggs. The term Free Range is defined by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) as “allowed access to the outside”. There’s not much more than that. In reality, most free range chicken barns have a small porch that a chicken might never find. But it had “access”. There is also no requirement for vegetation in the outdoor area. The free-range label is meaningless.[6] There are third party oversight programs that add requirements to certify a farmer’s operation as humane. Most require at least 2 square feet of space per chicken, although some require over 20. One oversight program requires chickens spend at least six hours a day outdoors (weather permitting).[7] But the programs are not consistent or regulated. If it’s not spelled out on the carton, then assume that “free range” is just “cage free” with a little more space.
Pastured Eggs. The term “pastured” is a major step towards allowing a chicken to live like nature intended. Again, while not legally defined, third-party oversight programs define pastured as giving the hen at least 108 square feet (1000 birds per 2.5 acres), and with at least six hours outdoors per day on land covered mainly with living vegetation.[8] Comparing pastured space to that of traditional caged layers, over 500 caged hens would fit in the space of just one pastured hen! If animal welfare is important to you, then choose pastured eggs. But you WILL notice a significant increase in price. Remember the discussion of efficiency in caged eggs? Well, a pastured chicken operation is less efficient. There’s more land, more infrastructure, and more labor needed, so the price goes up.
The table below summarizes the different types of eggs versus the conditions of the chicken.[9]
While Caged, Cage-Free, Free Range, and Pastured are the major categories of eggs, there are some other labels that you will find on eggs.
- Organic Eggs: These eggs come from hens raised in free-range barns. The hens are only provided feed that has been certified organic, which means that it only contains ingredients grown without pesticides, herbicides, commercial fertilizer, antibiotics, animal byproducts, and genetically modified organisms (GMOs). Beak trimming the hens is allowed. Eating organic grain does not mean the chicken lives a healthy life. Many organically raised chickens rarely get any time outdoors (the free range part), and their instinctual diet of bugs and microbes is severely limited, resulting in eggs with reduced nutritional value.[10]
- Omega-3 Eggs: These eggs are often given feed that has been supplemented with flax seeds and sometimes fish oil. The term is not regulated, so there’s no way to really prove that the eggs you’re consuming will have significantly higher levels of omega-3s. If omega-3s are important to you, then consume more ground flax, chia seeds, wild fatty fish, or take a daily supplement to receive the benefits of this anti-inflammatory fat.[11]
- Vitamin-Enhanced Eggs: These eggs come from hens that were provided feed that was nutritionally enhanced to include higher levels of certain vitamins; usually Vitamins D and E.[12] As a result, the eggs laid by these hens contain corresponding higher amounts of the particular vitamin(s). But to get a consistent intake, you may want to take daily Vitamin supplements.
- Vegetarian Fed Eggs: This is an odd term for a few reasons. First, chickens aren’t vegetarians; they are omnivores, like humans. Second, the feed fed to most commercial layers consists of corn, soy beans, and other grains, making them vegetarian fed already. Chickens used to be fed animal byproducts until the 1990s, but that came to a halt after mad cow outbreaks. Pastured chickens have access to bugs, worms, grubs, and even mice, so a vegetarian fed egg probably means the chicken is caged or cage free. Plus, a chicken that is able to graze on pasture will produce a nutritionally dense egg, while vegetarian fed chickens produce eggs with pale yellow yolks.[13]
- Farm Fresh: Since this term isn’t regulated, it means nothing. Eggs might be 6 days old or 2 months old and both cartons will claim they are Farm Fresh.
- All Natural: This term means nothing and is all marketing. It means that nothing has been done to the egg, but says nothing about how it got there. It could have come from a caged chicken that can’t move, but it’s an egg, so it’s All Natural.
- Hormone Free: Hormones in poultry has been banned by the USDA since 1960, so you can assume that all eggs are hormone free. Even if hormones were allowed, they are expensive and must be injected to work, significantly increasing the cost of the final product.[14]
- Antibiotic Free: This term means that the chickens haven’t been given antibiotics. Eggs certified as organic are antibiotic free. However, most laying chickens are not given antibiotics.
- Certified Humane: When the living conditions of the chicken meet minimum standards, the farm can apply for the Certified Humane label. Conditions include space, perches, litter, air, light, flooring, food, water. Certified Humane is a non-profit organization named Humane Farm Animal Care.[15]
- Pasteurized: Pasteurization is a process where food is heated to kill harmful bacteria, including Salmonella. Egg products (out of the shell) are required by law to be pasteurized, but not shell eggs. However, only one in 20,000 eggs has Salmonella. So pasteurized shell eggs might be hard to find. They are good when recipes call for raw or uncooked eggs.[16] Pasteurized eggs in the shell are marked with a red “P” on the shell.
Here are some questions about eggs you might have asked about eggs:
What Do the Egg Grades Mean? Eggs are sold in Grades AA, A, and B. Grade AA is the best, with “thick, firm whites and high, round yolks” and strong shells. Grade A is about the same, but with “reasonably” firm whites. Grade A are most likely the ones you buy in the store. Grade B eggs have “thin whites and wider yolks” and may be stained, making them good for baking, or used commercially in liquid and powdered egg products .[17]
What Do Egg Sizes Mean? Eggs are sold by weight, and divided into 5 different weight sizes before getting to the store. The eggs are sold as a minimum weight per dozen since individual eggs weights will vary.[18] The Table below shows the details of each size category. Notice how the average weight of the egg varies by just ¼ of an ounce.
Does shell color matter? The short answer is “no”. Eggs produced in the same environment are nutritionally the same. There’s a myth that brown eggs are better than white eggs. That’s because more than 90% of eggs at the store are white, and most of those eggs come from caged and cage free chickens. Brown eggs are usually associated with backyard chicken flocks. In that case, the brown eggs would be nutritionally better and fresher. But if those chickens were raised in the same barn, the eggs would be identical on the inside. Brown eggs are usually more expensive. That is because the hens, usually ISA Browns, are larger, requiring more barn space, eat more, and lay fewer eggs per year than the White Leghorn. The White Leghorn, where almost all white eggs come from, is an egg making machine, laying about 320 eggs per year! So more eggs, less space, and less feed makes for a less expensive egg.[19]
What do the numbers on the egg carton mean? A carton will have a series of numbers and letters stamped on the end. A three digit number is a Julian calendar date indicating the packaged date, or when the eggs were placed in the carton. On the carton will be the words “Sell By”, “Expiration”, “Use By”, or “Best By”, with a calendar date. Sell By or Expiration date tells stores when to pull the eggs from the shelf. That date is 30 days or less from the packaged date. Some states require a Use By or Best By date, indicating when it’s no longer safe for the consumer to eat the eggs. That date is 45 days or less from the packaged date. A 3 or 4 digit number usually preceded with a “P” indicates the plant where the eggs were packaged, in case there is a recall.[20] Here’s the kicker: the producer has 30 days from when the eggs were laid to get them in a carton, and the retailer has up to 30 days to sell the eggs from the date they were packaged. So if you are buying eggs close to the Sell By date, they may be close to 2 months old!
If you want to find out where your store eggs came from, you can look up the plant on this USDA website: https://data.ams.usda.gov/spotfire/wp/analysis?file=/AMS_Anonymous/PlantBook&waid=JSGvH9fXTUqMs4ayWCgZE-191701c9e5hsJp&wavid=0
Here are the big questions: Do expensive eggs taste better and are they better for me? The answer depends on you! From a taste perspective, many have performed blind taste tests with results that indicated no taste difference between any type of egg, whether it’s from caged chickens or pastured organic fed chickens.[21] Some say the perceived difference in taste may be psychological, based on how much you spent or how they look to you. Taste aside, there are certainly differences in nutrition, depending on how the chicken was fed. And if animal ethics concern you, then you might want to avoid caged and cage-free eggs. But unless the package speaks to the age of the egg, you’re probably buying two month old eggs no matter how much you paid for them.
So is your head hurting now? There’s a lot of marketing in eggs without much regulation about egg quality, freshness, or animal welfare. If you want the freshest eggs possible, buy them from a local chicken farmer. If you don’t see chickens, then the eggs probably weren’t laid there and you might be better off buying from the store! If you see chickens, ask about how they are raised and what they eat. See if they look happy and healthy. And if you buy eggs from the store, read the carton carefully. Now you can understand what the labels actually mean!
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References:
- New York Times, https://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/17/business/eggs-that-clear-the-cages-but-maybe-not-the-conscience.html ↑
- Wikipedia, Battery Cage, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battery_cage ↑
- United Egg Producers, https://unitedegg.com/facts-stats/ ↑
- Wikipedia, Battery Cage, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battery_cage ↑
- Four Paws, https://www.four-paws.us/campaigns-topics/topics/farm-animals/cage-free ↑
- DailyMail.com, https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2508173/16-000-free-range-chickens-crammed-shed-NEVER-daylight.html ↑
- The Balance Small Business, https://www.thebalancesmb.com/what-does-free-range-really-mean-2538247 ↑
- Humane Society, https://www.humanesociety.org/resources/how-decipher-egg-carton-labels ↑
- The Humane Society, https://www.humanesociety.org/resources/how-decipher-egg-carton-labels ↑
- The Healthy Home Economist, https://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/why-organic-store-eggs-are-a-scam ↑
- Eat This Not That!, https://www.eatthis.com/eggs/ ↑
- Egg Farmers of Alberta, https://eggs.ab.ca/eggs/types-of-eggs/ ↑
- Eat Play Love …More, https://eatplaylovemore.com/2017/06/07/problem-with-vegetarian-fed-eggs/ ↑
- University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture, https://www.uaex.edu/publications/PDF/FSA-8007.pdf ↑
- Certified Humane, https://certifiedhumane.org/makes-certified-humane-cage-free-eggs-different-cage-free-eggs/ ↑
- Incredible Egg, https://www.incredibleegg.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/g8-eggs-and-pasteurization.pdf ↑
- Insider.com, https://www.insider.com/what-different-egg-labels-really-mean-2019-1 ↑
- Eat This, https://www.eatthis.com/eggs/ ↑
- HuffPost, https://www.huffpost.com/entry/brown-white-eggs-difference_n_5a8af33be4b00bc49f46fc45 ↑
- My Fearless Kitchen, https://www.myfearlesskitchen.com/code-egg-carton-mean/ ↑
- Washington Post, https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/01/AR2010060100792.html ↑