Before we get into serious information, you have to check out iLoveEgg, a bizarre and kind of creepy cartoon website from, I think, the Korean Ministry of Education. One page features different cartoons of egg personalities, with titles like Ninja or Soccer Game.  Click on the upper-right link for the creepy egg song if you want, but I could only stand it for about five seconds.  I guess if it gets people to eat eggs, that’s a good thing, but I think the site’s not quite ADD-compliant enough for me.  Okay, on to content...

Today’s New York Times features an article clarifying what, exactly, the terms you see on egg cartons mean.

Some highlights:

All those grade letters: Grade A, AA, etc refer not to miniscule bra sizes worn by the hens, but to the firmness of the whites.  Then again, fresher eggs have firmer whites.  Another argument for buying your eggs from a farmer who can tell you when they were laid.

Free range: I always knew this meant the chickens had access to the outdoors, even if it was just a tiny, miserable spot covered in chicken poop outside the coop where nothing tasty grew anymore.  But it turns out, that space can even be a concrete slab.  Yes, folks, free range can mean the chickens get a daily dose of sunshine or get rained on, if they even feel like bothering to go outside, as they wander around on concrete.  Mmm, concrete.

Pastured: This is the type of eggs I usually aim for, but note that there isn’t actually a regulation about what it means.  Pastured (not to be confused with “pasteurized” of course) generally refers to chickens being allowed to roam freely on pasture, or being moved to a different spot of pasture each day.  However, since there isn’t a regulation about it, this isn’t a term you should look for in a store.  It’s something you should ask the farmer about directly, on the farm at the farmers market, or over the phone.  How does he or she raise those chickens?  What do they eat and where do they roam?  Are they moved to different spots of pasture?

No hormones: Apparently chickens aren’t given hormones anyway, so this term on your egg carton is probably just a tax on those who don’t know otherwise.

Natural, naturally raised:  Here I’ll just quote directly from the article, “It means whatever the producers want it to mean because eggs in the shell are not a processed food.”  See that comment under “no hormones” about the tax.

Omega-3:  Most omega-3 eggs are from chickens eating flaxseed, which contains a form of omega-3 fatty acid known as alpha-linoleic acid (ALA), rather than docosahexaenoic (DHA).  DHA is the omega-3 commonly associated with brain function, reduced cardiovascular disease risk, and positive markers of mental health.  It comes from animal sources like a fish’s fat or liver, which is why cod liver oil is such a good source.  Your body can convert ALA into DHA but it’s a really slow and imperfect mechanism. 

UPDATE: Luckily, the New York Times is actually wrong about this point.  Chickens can convert ALA into DHA for us. I found two links on PubMed to back this up, here and here.  So yes, it’s a good thing when chickens are fed flaxseed, but they should also be allowed to graze on pasture.

So, what next?

As usual, I suggest you buy your eggs directly from a farmer you trust who can tell you how the chickens are raised, where they roam, and what they eat.  Chickens should have access to a large section of pasture, and be moved as much as possible so the soil says in good condition and provides them with new bugs, grubs, and plants to eat.  All chickens are fed a supplementary diet, so ask about that too.  Flaxseed is a good addition. 

Misleading labels matter less than accurate information.  One of the local farmers sells eggs from chickens his young daughter is raising.  These eggs come in recycled supermarket egg cartons with her pleasantly childish hand-drawn picture of chickens and eggs glued on top.  That’s enough labeling for me, considering that the farmer has told me details about what the chickens eat and how much space they have on pasture.  He’s someone I’ve bought other products from for years.  That means more to me than what some company’s marketing department wants to put on a label.  Or maybe I’m just not open minded enough when it comes to chickens raised on concrete.

More information:

I [heart] eggs.  So might your heart.

Pastures of plenty.

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NY Times piece cited in this article: “Sorting Through the Claims of the Boastful Egg” by Catherine Price.  September 17, 2008, p. F5 of the New York edition.

Thanks to peskymac for the CC photo.