The New York Times did a big “mitzvah” yesterday, by helping readers unscramble (pun intended) the mysteries of the egg.  Or rather, the mysteries of the egg carton – which these days, attempts to woo consumers by being more cage-free than the other guys.  According to author, Catherine Price, if you feel confused by all the choices in the egg aisle, you’re not alone:

IT used to be, an egg was an egg.  Now they can be cage free and free range, vegetarian and omega-3 fortified, organic, “certified humane” or “American humane certified.” The incredible, edible egg is becoming unintelligible.  Some claims on egg cartons are regulated by the federal government, some by the states and some not at all. Some affect consumers’ health, some touch upon ethics and some are meaningless.

Of course, if you get your eggs directly from under the chicken, you don’t have to worry much about packaging.  But for those of us who get eggs at the grocery store, check out the abridged guide to buying eggs, below the jump.  (And read the full article here.) 

The New York Times’ Guide to Common Egg Labels

How Birds Are Raised

CAGE FREE The agriculture department says this means that the chickens were kept out of cages and had continuous access to food and water, but did not necessarily have access to the outdoors.

FREE RANGE The agriculture department says that in addition to meeting the cage-free standards, free-range birds must have continuous access to the outdoors, unless there’s a health risk present. There are no standards, though, for what that outdoor area must be like. (A concrete lot could do.)

PASTURE-RAISED There is no regulation of this term, which implies hens got at least part of their food from foraging on greens and bugs, which adherents say can improve flavor. Some studies have found that pasture-raised eggs have more nutrients like omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin A, vitamin E and beta carotene, and less saturated fat and cholesterol.

ANIMAL CARE LABELS Four main terms indicate the level of care hens received.

“Certified humane raised and handled” hens and “American humane certified” hens are kept cage free, though not necessarily outdoors.

“Certified humane raised and handled” is administered by Humane Farm Animal Care, the only animal welfare program audited each year for reliability by the Department of Agriculture. It is endorsed by many animal welfare organizations. It has requirements for, among other things, ventilation, density and the number of perches and nesting boxes that must be provided. It requires that each hen have at least 1.5 square feet of space (324 square inches).

The “American humane certified” label was created by the American Humane Association. Its standards, similar to those of “certified humane raised and handled,” prohibit forced molting (reducing feed to increase egg production) and require that hens have at least 1.25 square feet of space (225 square inches).

“United Egg Producers Certified,” formerly “Animal care certified,” is presented by the United Egg Producers, America’s leading trade association for egg farmers, which has standards for caged and cage-free layers. The group adopted the new name under pressure from the Federal Trade Commission and the Better Business Bureau, which agreed with complaints they had received that “Animal care certified” misled consumers by implying more humane treatment than the hens were getting. Even with the new title, many animal welfare advocates say those standards are too low. The standards permit hens to have as little as 67 square inches of space, less than a letter-size sheet of paper, which is 93.5 square inches.

What Birds Are Fed

ORGANIC Any product with the “U.S.D.A. organic” emblem must meet the standards of the agriculture department’s National Organic Program. Among the program’s requirements: birds must be kept cage free with outdoor access (though the time and the type of access are not defined), they cannot be given antibiotics (even if ill) and their food must be free from animal byproducts and made from crops grown without chemical pesticides, fertilizers, irradiation, genetic engineering or sewage sludge. If organic eggs do not have the program’s emblem, they may be part of an independent or state-run program, and it may take some research to determine the program’s standards.

VEGETARIAN-FED For eggs that bear a U.S.D.A. grade shield, “vegetarian-fed” means the eggs came from hens raised on all-vegetarian feed. Hens are not naturally vegetarian, though; they enjoy eating grubs, bugs and worms. While there’s not a substantial nutritional difference between these eggs and conventional eggs, vegetarian eggs appeal to consumers who are turned off by some of the animal byproducts that can be included in conventional chicken feed, like feather meal, chicken litter, pork and cattle byproducts and “spent hen meal” (ground up dead hens).

NO HORMONES The Food and Drug Administration has not approved any hormone products for egg production, so this term is meaningless.

NO ANTIBIOTICS The Food and Drug Administration, which is responsible for food safety and oversees antibiotic use in poultry, does not allow routine use of antibiotics but does not define or regulate the term “no antibiotics.” The only way this claim is verified is if the eggs are U.S.D.A. graded (which means that hens did not receive therapeutic antibiotics but may still have been treated with antibiotics, if ill) or if the eggs are a part of the National Organic Program (which bans antibiotics entirely after chicks are 3 days old, even if ill). NATURAL, NATURALLY RAISED It means whatever the producers want it to mean because eggs in the shell are not a processed food.

FERTILE The term is unregulated but implies that the eggs came from hens that were likely to have been fertilized because they were uncaged and raised near a rooster. Some consumers like the idea of these more natural living conditions; others adhere to unproven beliefs that fertile eggs are more nutritious. Fertile eggs are stored at temperatures too cold for chicks to develop.

What’s in the Eggs

OMEGA-3 Eggs claiming to have extra omega-3 fatty acids, which are believed to improve heart health and mental acuity, come from hens whose diets include good sources of omega-3s, like flaxseed or algae. Producers in the U.S.D.A. grading program are audited to make sure the layers’ diets have been fortified and that omega-enriched eggs do not get swapped out for cheaper ones. The F.D.A. can audit producers’ claims about omega-3s but typically does so only if there has been a complaint. Unless the eggs claim to contain higher levels of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) omega-3s, a form that is thought to be more important for cardiovascular health, the omega-3s are probably primarily in the alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) form.

PASTEURIZED This term is regulated by the F.D.A. and refers to eggs heated to temperatures just below the coagulation point to destroy pathogens. These eggs are recommended for recipes that call for raw eggs or for people susceptible to illness who prefer runny eggs.

….or, just do what our friend Natan (below), does and collect your own!

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