Eggs & Eggy Stuff: Deciphering the Egg Buzz Words

FYI, for full disclosure, I do not eat eggs. I find them kind of yucky. But I buy them fresh from small farms for my children who have lately been less vegan. Last night, we had great mushroom spinach omelettes that pleased everyone. I was tempted to try a small bite but was just as happy with sauteed spinach and mushrooms. The eggs were from Windfall Farms at the Union Square farmers market. They were a mix of light blue and light brown and had very dark orange yolks.

This egg was celebrating the equinox March 20-21 by standing upright overnight

The difference between mainstream eggs and eggs raised on a small farm is huge. But mainstream egg producers smaller scale sellers that provide eggs to larger health foods chains and grocery stores have been making claims on their packaging. Some small farms or co-ops have come together to produce more eggs under one label. But, how do those eggs stack up to each other, to mainstream grocery store eggs, and to small farm eggs purchased warm and freshly collected?

• Free range does not mean much and should mean cageless. Free range eggs are permitted outside part of the day. But the hens could be in cages indoors also.

• Cage-free means cage-less but chickens can be confined to very small quarters regardless of cages. And, cage-less is not an indication that the hens are permitted to go outside. (Caged hens can have as little as 67 square inches per bird and often have their beaks removed so they do not peck each other to death.)

• Omega 3 eggs result from flax seeds added to chicken feed. I would rather just eat the flax seeds myself. They do not seem to be part of a chicken's natural diet. Chicken's pastured would eat grasses and plants for Omega-3 fats naturally and they 

• Grade A is an FDA reference and must meet certain size requirements but does not address any ethical or health aspects of the egg. The eggs do have to weigh a certain amount and have a minimum shell density. Egg producers can achieve these traits without making a healthier or more organic egg.

• Pastured means the hens have time outside where they have the chance to eat their natural diet as well as feed. (So plants, shrubs, and insects that create a more natural egg are included in the diet.)

• Soy free / GMO free. These eggs should have no GMOs or soy in their feed.

• Grassfed eggs should more naturally achieve a healthy omega 3 level, and a dark orange yolk.

• Organic eggs are USDA organic, have no chemicals in the areas where they graze, eat organic feed only or fresh un-sprayed plants.

• Sun-lit porches are sometimes mentioned o egg cartons. To me this is a sign of no pasture time. 

• Grocery store mainstream eggs also have traces of arsenic. Arsenic is in chicken feed because it is part of a parasite drug included in the chicken's diet either in feed or as a medicine. (an ingredient sill allowed in chicken feed everywhere in the United States except Maryland where they were recently banned after years of pressure from environmentalists. Europe and Canada banned arsenic-containing ingredients in hen's medicines or feed.) There is no indication of the use of arsenic on the packaging so any and all eggs from 49 states put you at this risk.

• Pasteurized: a process deemed to eliminate risk of bacteria. I prefer unpasteurized so I buy from farms.

If I am not buying eggs at a farm where the chickens are in plain sight, I would ask a farmer a few simple questions:

How much of the chicken's diet is from feed as opposed to things like grass or a worm?

Is there any soy included in the feed? Any antibiotics? Any fish products or other unsavory additives?

Do the chickens have constant access to the outdoors?

Are the grounds sprayed with any herbicides or pesticides?

Small happy hens produce the most humane and the most healthy eggs. If you have access to a farm, you can skip the tricky language on labels and grab an egg right from under the chicken.