Not all eggs are created equal, so it’s important to know what different labels really mean.
By Laura Sayre
April/May 2007
"Not all eggs are created equal, so it’s important to know what different labels really mean."
MATTHEW T. STALLBAUMER
On a recent Saturday afternoon I bought three dozen eggs from my local
Wild Oats supermarket. All were large, brown, cage-free, certified
organic eggs. The least expensive, at $3.19, advertised “225 mg of
Omega-3 per egg.” The most expensive cost $4.29 and said “Two eggs
contain 400 mg of Omega-3.” These were Grade AA, the highest level in
the USDA’s voluntary cosmetic grading system for eggs (all the others
were Grade A), and were positioned behind a little shelf tag encouraging
me to “Buy Local” (although they didn’t appear to be local). The third
dozen cost $3.49 and said nothing about omega-3 levels.
My
observations on cracking open some samples? The priciest eggs had the
lowest apparent quality, i.e. pale, flat yolks and loose whites. The
best-looking were the $3.49 eggs, with unknown omega-3 levels. But none
looked anywhere near as good as a sample bought directly from a farmer
who raises pastured poultry about five miles from where I live and sells
eggs for $3 a dozen.
Conventional egg
production — that is to say, the vast majority of egg production in the
United States — is not a pretty business. Laying hens are crammed five
or six to a cage in stacked rows of cages designed for automated
feeding, watering and egg-collecting. As many as 100,000 birds can be
confined in a single warehouse, each bird with less than 67 square
inches, about two-thirds the size of a sheet of paper, to call its own.
The crowded conditions lead to cannibalism and other destructive
behavior, so the birds’ beaks are cut off at an early age, a procedure
that could be likened to cutting off a child’s finger tips, in terms of
its impact on the animals’ dexterity and sensory experience. The
industry favors windowless warehouses with prolonged artificial light to
stimulate maximum egg-laying. When egg production drops off, food is
withheld as a way of sending the birds into a forced molt followed by
another round of egg laying before being disposed of.
The
adoption of practices like these has paralleled the spread of
salmonella as a bacterial contaminant in eggs — the reason you’re
cautioned not to eat raw cookie dough or Caesar dressing anymore.
Crowded conditions, genetic uniformity and the widespread use of
antibiotics in industrial agriculture favor the development of new and
potentially more devastating pathogens.
All
those new kinds of eggs for sale in the supermarket should help you opt
out of this system, if you’re willing to spend a little more, right?
Well, that depends. Here’s a short guide to some of the most common
label claims found in the supermarket egg case:
“Cage Free,” “Free Range” or “Free Roaming.”
None of these terms are currently regulated by the U.S.
government, although there are some third-party verification programs
(see below). Nevertheless, “free range” usually means the laying hens
are raised in large flocks in big open warehouses rather than in stacked
cages. They can walk around, flap their wings and preen their feathers a
little. “Cage-free” does not mean outdoor access. “Free-range” implies
some outdoor access, although it is probably very limited, and on dirt
or concrete rather than pasture.
“Certified Humane.”
Humane Farm Animal Care operates a certification program
specifying that laying hens are uncaged, with access to perches, nest
boxes and dust-bathing areas. There are stocking-density maximums but
outdoor access is not required.
Debeaking is allowed
; starvation to induce molting is prohibited.
“Certified Organic.”
Production methods must comply with the USDA National Organic
Program, including organic, vegetarian feed, no use of antibiotics and
no cages.
Debeaking and forced molting by starvation are allowed.
Organic standards require producers to “maintain livestock
living conditions which accommodate the health and natural behavior of
the animals.” How much access to the outdoors this requires for chickens
is still being hotly debated. At this time, on large organic chicken
farms, it may mean nothing more than a small door opening onto a
concrete yard.
“Omega 3.”
All eggs contain small amounts of omega-3 fatty acids, thought
to be beneficial to human health. Omega-3 levels in eggs can be raised
by supplementing the birds’ diet with things such as fish oil, flax seed
or alfalfa meal (or by simply allowing the birds to forage on lawn or
pasture).
Find Fresh Local Eggs
Want to find local, farm-fresh,
real
eggs in your area? Search your ZIP code at the following
egg-ceptional
Web sites:
Eat Well Guide
No comments:
Post a Comment