A few weeks ago, reader Mary Roberts of Portland sent us an e-mail. In it was a long list of questions about eggs, including this doozy: “What’s better: local, organic, cage-free, omega?”
We, too, have often wondered how to choose eggs that fit our budget and our values. As Roberts put it, “The typical grocery egg case presents an overwhelming set of choices but we are ill-informed about what all the choices actually mean.”
So we did some digging and found some important and not-so-pretty facts. To sort it all out, it helps to look at how the majority of the country’s eggs are produced.
Most eggs come from farms that use battery cages — wire cages that allow about 67 square inches per bird (less than a sheet of letter-size paper) and can contain as many as eight hens. Nesting, perching, stretching wings — none of this is possible in a battery cage. Beaks are routinely cut off to ensure the hens don’t peck each other. And some producers regulate egg production by withholding food, causing some birds to starve to death.
As many as 100,000 hens may be grouped together under one roof, and cramped quarters are hotbeds of illness and disease, which means the hens are usually given a steady diet of antibiotics and other drugs.
As consumers have learned of these practices, more of them are demanding eggs from uncaged hens. But while labels such as “cage-free” and “free-range” conjure visions of happy hens hunting and pecking on pasture, the reality can be quite different (see the list below).
If the living conditions of hens are an important consideration for you, spending the extra money for eggs from small, local farms is usually your best bet. You can often find them at farmers markets, and they’re often much fresher than store-bought. As an added bonus, many small farms raise their hens on pasture, where they can forage for bugs and plants, which studies suggest makes the eggs more nutritious.
As for supermarket eggs, the variety of labels can be confusing — and misleading. With help from the Humane Society of the United States, which has launched a national campaign to ban battery cages, we’ve compiled a list to help you make sense of the labels.
Your guide to egg labels
Cage-free
Pros: Uncaged hens can perform natural functions such as walking and stretching their wings.
Cons: The hens are usually housed in large barns or warehouses with no access to the outdoors and no cap on population. There are no restrictions on feed for the birds, so they may be given feed with antibiotics, drugs, pesticides or animal byproducts. Beak cutting and forced molting through starvation are permitted. There is no third-party auditing to ensure the hens truly are cage-free.
Free-range/free-roaming
Pros: Uncaged hens can perform natural functions and usually have some outdoor access.
Cons: There are no standards for the amount, duration and quality of the outdoor access. Outdoor access is not even required, since the USDA has no defined standards for free-range egg production (meat production yes, but not eggs). There are no restrictions on feed for the birds. Beak cutting and forced molting through starvation are permitted. There is no third-party auditing.
Certified organic
Pros: To earn this label, hens are required to be uncaged and have outdoor access. They are fed an organic, all-vegetarian feed free of antibiotics, drugs, pesticides and animal byproducts. Because they are not given antibiotics, their living conditions are usually not as cramped. Certification is given by third-party auditors.
Cons: There are no standards for the amount, duration and quality of the outdoor access. There are also no standards capping population density (although, as stated above, it’s likely conditions aren’t too cramped since the birds are not given antibiotics). Beak cutting and forced molting through starvation are permitted.
Certified Humane (certifiedhumane.org):
Pros: Hens must be uncaged. They may have some outdoor access. They must be able to perform natural behaviors such as nesting, perching and dust bathing. There are standards capping population density and requiring a certain number of perches and nesting boxes. Forced molting through starvation is not allowed. They are fed a diet free of antibiotics, hormones and animal byproducts. Certification is given by third-party auditors.Stiebrs Farms and Wilcox Farms are two local egg producers certified with this label.
Cons: Outdoor access is not required. Beak cutting is allowed.
OregonLive.com: Sorting out the language on the egg carton
Posted: November 10, 2009 by Certified Humane
We, too, have often wondered how to choose eggs that fit our budget and our values. As Roberts put it, “The typical grocery egg case presents an overwhelming set of choices but we are ill-informed about what all the choices actually mean.”
So we did some digging and found some important and not-so-pretty facts. To sort it all out, it helps to look at how the majority of the country’s eggs are produced.
Most eggs come from farms that use battery cages — wire cages that allow about 67 square inches per bird (less than a sheet of letter-size paper) and can contain as many as eight hens. Nesting, perching, stretching wings — none of this is possible in a battery cage. Beaks are routinely cut off to ensure the hens don’t peck each other. And some producers regulate egg production by withholding food, causing some birds to starve to death.
As many as 100,000 hens may be grouped together under one roof, and cramped quarters are hotbeds of illness and disease, which means the hens are usually given a steady diet of antibiotics and other drugs.
As consumers have learned of these practices, more of them are demanding eggs from uncaged hens. But while labels such as “cage-free” and “free-range” conjure visions of happy hens hunting and pecking on pasture, the reality can be quite different (see the list below).
If the living conditions of hens are an important consideration for you, spending the extra money for eggs from small, local farms is usually your best bet. You can often find them at farmers markets, and they’re often much fresher than store-bought. As an added bonus, many small farms raise their hens on pasture, where they can forage for bugs and plants, which studies suggest makes the eggs more nutritious.
As for supermarket eggs, the variety of labels can be confusing — and misleading. With help from the Humane Society of the United States, which has launched a national campaign to ban battery cages, we’ve compiled a list to help you make sense of the labels.
Your guide to egg labels
Cage-free
Pros: Uncaged hens can perform natural functions such as walking and stretching their wings.
Cons: The hens are usually housed in large barns or warehouses with no access to the outdoors and no cap on population. There are no restrictions on feed for the birds, so they may be given feed with antibiotics, drugs, pesticides or animal byproducts. Beak cutting and forced molting through starvation are permitted. There is no third-party auditing to ensure the hens truly are cage-free.
Free-range/free-roaming
Pros: Uncaged hens can perform natural functions and usually have some outdoor access.
Cons: There are no standards for the amount, duration and quality of the outdoor access. Outdoor access is not even required, since the USDA has no defined standards for free-range egg production (meat production yes, but not eggs). There are no restrictions on feed for the birds. Beak cutting and forced molting through starvation are permitted. There is no third-party auditing.
Certified organic
Pros: To earn this label, hens are required to be uncaged and have outdoor access. They are fed an organic, all-vegetarian feed free of antibiotics, drugs, pesticides and animal byproducts. Because they are not given antibiotics, their living conditions are usually not as cramped. Certification is given by third-party auditors.
Cons: There are no standards for the amount, duration and quality of the outdoor access. There are also no standards capping population density (although, as stated above, it’s likely conditions aren’t too cramped since the birds are not given antibiotics). Beak cutting and forced molting through starvation are permitted.
Certified Humane (certifiedhumane.org):
Pros: Hens must be uncaged. They may have some outdoor access. They must be able to perform natural behaviors such as nesting, perching and dust bathing. There are standards capping population density and requiring a certain number of perches and nesting boxes. Forced molting through starvation is not allowed. They are fed a diet free of antibiotics, hormones and animal byproducts. Certification is given by third-party auditors.Stiebrs Farms and Wilcox Farms are two local egg producers certified with this label.
Cons: Outdoor access is not required. Beak cutting is allowed.
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