What kind of eggs should i buy

Labels like hormone-free, farm-fresh, cage-free, antibiotic-free, natural, and fertile, mean little to nothing at all. Common store-bought brands that have a good reputation include:. The Truth Behind the Labels We include products in articles we think are useful for our readers.

By Liam McAuliffe M. Published on June 20, Related Blog Posts Intermittent Fasting. Intermittent Fasting. Follow us on Social Media. Subscribe and Never Miss Dr. Kiltz's Health Tips. Get in touch using the form below:. Share your story using the form below:. Exact matches only. Search in title. Search in content. By , all eggs produced in Canada will come from hens living in free-run, free-range or enriched-housing conditions.

These hens are cage-free; they move freely in a wide open barn and have access to nests, perches and scratching areas but not the outdoors. Free-run hens have twice as much space square centimetres per bird than conventionally caged hens.

National guidelines set out in the Recommended Code of Practice for the Care and Handling of Poultry outline density regulations for egg-laying hens. Like free-run hens, free-range birds live cage-free in barns with nests, perches and scratching areas. The difference, though: they're given access to the outdoors, weather permitting. These hens live in cages that provide three-quarters more space square centimetres than conventional battery cages.

The cages are "enriched" with nests, perches and scratching areas. Enriched housing provides a more natural environment for hens and produces eggs with a lower price tag than free run or free range eggs. Certified organic eggs are produced by free-range hens e. The hens are fed organic feed, grains that have been pesticide-free for at least three years. Organically-raised hens are not given antibiotics, nor do they receive growth-promoting hormones. Conventionally-raised hens do not receive growth hormones; hormones have not been used in egg-laying hens for more than 50 years.

Hens that lay omega-3 eggs are fed a diet rich in flax, a seed packed with an anti-inflammatory omega-3 fat called alpha linolenic acid ALA. Sounds pretty good, right? Imagine happy chickens roaming in the sunshine, enjoying their liberty and each other's company What cage-free means, however, is far different, but it's still a vast improvement from the previous industry norm of battery caging.

Cage-free is a voluntary label, regulated by the Agricultural Marketing Service, that audits for advantages like perching and dust-bathing areas. Cage-free hens, while not caged, do not necessarily have access to the outdoors but should have room to roam about and spread their wings.

They often live in flocks of hundreds, and there is no standard for a cage-free hen's diet. Cage-free does not mean cruelty-free. Many cage-free producers practice beak shearing and use the "forced molting" technique of starving older hens to get one last round of eggs from them. Thankfully, most are phasing out the practice of "culling" male chicks by tossing them live into meat grinders. Consider cage-free to be a step in the right direction, but if you're truly looking to vote with your dollar at the supermarket, you can do much better.

Free-range is another marketing label that is voluntary for producers. The USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service designates that free-range hens must be housed in a building similar to that of cage-free hens but with access to an outdoor area.

They do not require that the outdoor area be of any particular size or quality. Poultry-advocacy organization United Poultry Concerns describe conditions at a free-range facility: "Typically, 2, to 20, or more hens — each hen having one square foot of living space the size of a sheet of paper — are confined in a shed with little or no access to the outdoors.

If the hens can go outside, the exit is often very small, allowing only the closest hens to get out. And the 'range' may be nothing more than a mudyard saturated with manure. Like cage-free birds, there are no requirements for the quality or type of feed for free-range birds, and many producers still employ the methods of beak shearing, forced molting, and other practices that would not be considered cruelty-free.

At the end of the day, free-range doesn't really add up to much more than cage-free in the way of quality of life for a factory-farmed chicken. Pasture-raised eggs not to be confused with pasteurized! Shelter is provided for nesting and inclement weather.

While pasture-raised eggs typically come from smaller farms or companies, there are no definitive government standards for pasture-raised operations, with a producer voluntarily submitting to twice-yearly inspections from the Agricultural Marketing Service.

If you can find pasture-raised eggs at your supermarket, they're a fantastic choice. Some even believe they're more nutritious than their factory-fed counterparts. If your local store doesn't carry them, ask them to. Better yet, find a farmer's market or local farmer where you can buy fresh eggs that may come in a wide array of shell colors and sizes. Though they may not be officially labeled as such the label is not prohibitively expensive , but smaller farms may have a hard time keeping up with the record keeping required to maintain different certifications , you can ask the farmer firsthand what goes into the care of the farm's hens.

When it comes to knowing exactly what your food ate, the organic label is the gold standard in the industry. Eggs carrying the USDA Organic seal come from free-range hens with access to the outdoors and sunlight.

The National Organic Program's strict rules dictate that hens are fed only certified organic, non-GMO feed and receive preventative health care without the use of antibiotics except in cases of extreme outbreaks.

Organic does not mean pasture-raised, however. Hens from organic farms with pasture access must also be labeled as such. While the life of an organic hen meets animal welfare standards that far exceed those of a caged hen, there are large-scale organic producers who do not meet ethical requirements that are important to many organic consumers, with many practicing beak shearing or continuing to purchase their chicks from hatcheries that still cull their male chicks, though this practice is slowly being phased out.

Other great options in Moon's book: free-range and nutritionally-fortified eggs. Hens who produce eggs that are free-range labeled have had access to the outdoors, as well as a more natural diet. Meanwhile, eggs that are fortified with omega-3, lutein, or vitamin E are great options for people who are lacking in healthy fats say, they don't eat seafood.

Meanwhile, don't get suckered in by eggs labeled antibiotic-free or grain-fed, as neither of them have that much meaning. So if an egg carton has an antibiotic-free claim on it, it likely means that there were no antibiotics in the food and water during growth or laying time, says Moon. But manufacturers tend to be fast and loose with that label, so if going antibiotic-free is important to you, just go organic so you know exactly what you're getting.

And "grain-fed" might sound great in theory but since chickens are omnivores, not vegetarians, this doesn't do much. By eating grain-fed chicken eggs, you might actually lose a bit of nutritional value.