Egg Labeling, How to Choose the Best for Your Family

Could egg lableing get any more confusing? Free Range, Cage Free, Omega-3, Organic, etc., etc., etc..... Let's make it simple to choose the best eggs for your family so the next time you're in the aisle you can make and easy decsion :) ALL NATURAL Okay, this is marketing trickery right here. They are trying to suck you into believing it's something special but in actuality it just means it's not a fake egg. LOL. It is an egg from nature, laid by a chicken from nature.

CAGE-FREE Cage free means these hens are given access to roam the facility where they are being raised, but it gives no indication of what the facility they are in is like. Be wary! FREE-RANGE This means that at some point, the hens are let outside. For how long? Honestly, we're not sure. And what do they eat? They could be feeding from the earth but odds are they are still being fed poultry feed, which isn't necessarily bad but some studies have found thatthere's no nutritional difference between eggs from free-range hens and eggs from hens housed in production facilities with cages. ORGANIC The USDA Organic seal means these eggs are laid by hens on a farm that has been certified org anic. They should be being fed organic feed which means that your eggs will not have been laid by toxin fed hens that have been given poultry by-products, manure, antibiotics, or any vetrinary drugs. This is good! If they are labeled organic, they are most likely free-range as well.

HORMONE-FREE

Again, this is advertising sleight-of-hand and holds no substance. ALL eggs are hormone free even if they don't state it because hens are never given hormones!

OMEGA-3

Eggs labeled with Omega-3 means these hens have been fed a diet that includes sees rich in omegas like flax seed. However, according to insider dot com, "Canadian nutritionist Leslie Beck reports, just because your egg carton has the "Omega-3" label doesn't mean you're buying eggs with enough of the Omega-3 you need.

Eggs can be fortified with two types of Omega-3 fatty acids called DHA and ALA. Extensive research has been done on the health benefits of DHA (found in fish), with less known about the benefits of ALA (found in flaxseed and walnuts).

Hens that produce the "Omega-3"-branded eggs eat feed that contains flaxseed. Once consumed, some of the ALA in the seeds gets broken down into DHA in their system. One "Omega-3"-labeled egg typically contains 340 milligrams of ALA and just 75 to 100 milligrams of DHA, according to Beck." Personally, when I was raising chickens, I purposely included flax because I beleive in the benefits of ALA omegas :) VEGETARIAN DIET/FED Okay, this is awkward. If you are that concerned with the hens being vegetarian, why are YOU partaking in their eggs-which are basically preborn animals? Just sayin'! Bottom-line, chickens are omnivoirs so if they are not being fed the bugs they love, then they are probably not thriving the way YHWH created them to because they are missing the protein based amino acid methionine! Hard pass!

PASTURE-RAISED

This label means that the hens were raised on a pasture where they can eat freely from the ground like intended. Bugs and all. However, what kind of pasture and if it's organic or sprayed with toxins etc., is not necessarily disclosed. Ideally it's a nice pasture on a wonderful farm with God-honoring farmers. If so these eggs should have a higher nutritional content than caged and poultry-feed-fed hen-laid eggs (that's a mouthful! No pun intended!) because they will have feasted on greens, grasses, herbs, worms, bugs and anything else they can find in their natural habititat. ______________________________________________

Personally, if you can find them, I believe that Organic Pasture-Raised is the way to go if you're buying from the grocery store, but finding a neighbor with hens that is willing to share or a local farmer is even better. If they are feeding their hens organically be prepared to spend about $5-$6 a dozen to help cover feed costs and the cost of the carton. They are totally worth it!