THE GOOD EGG GUIDE
Free-range or barn-raised? Brown shells or speckled? Lion-stamped or not? In our ‘look-behind-the-label’ report, we ask: what makes a jolly good egg?
Our ‘look-behind-the-label’ report finds out what makes a jolly good egg
Easter means eggs – and not just the chocolate kind. As anyone with hens knows, the extra daylight and warmth of spring encourages them to lay. But while some of us can saunter down to the bottom of the garden to collect fresh eggs for breakfast, the rest of us head to the local shop or supermarket, only to be baffled by the selection. Which eggs should you choose if you want to ensure the bird has had the highest quality of life? And are any eggs better for you than others? Read on for our ultimate egg guide.
WHAT’S THE PECKING ORDER?
We ate more than 13 billion eggs in 2018, according to the British Egg Industry Council – the highest since the early Eighties. Just over half (54 per cent) were free range, just under half (44 per cent) were caged, and the rest (two per cent) were barn eggs. But what does this mean for the birds? FREE RANGE The birds will have been allowed to roam outside and with a little more space – with no more than nine hens per square metre.
CAGED The birds may well have been kept in a cage the size of an A4 sheet of paper, with an extra, postcard-sized portion of space for scratching and nesting. Many supermarkets, including Tesco, Aldi and Lidl, have promised not to stock eggs from caged birds by 2025 because of consumer concerns over welfare. Marks & Spencer, Sainsbury’s and Waitrose don’t sell caged eggs at all. BARN These birds will have been allowed to roam, but only inside – with no more than 16 birds per square metre.
HOW ABOUT ORGANIC?
About two per cent of the free-range eggs we bought in 2018 were organic (all organic eggs are free range). These birds are guaranteed a bit more space – there must be no more than six hens per square metre, are spared routine antibiotics and eat a Gm-free diet.
Yet even birds producing organic eggs can have varied lives. Compassion in World Farming, a leading farm animal-welfare organisation, recommends organic eggs certified by the Soil Association because they are from birds kept to even higher standards. The birds won’t, for example, have had their beaks trimmed, a practice otherwise allowed even in organic
farming. Beak trimming reduces the damage that birds do to each other when they peck their feathers. The Soil Association argues they only do this, however, when they’re frustrated or stressed – organic birds are allowed to forage and won’t want to peck.
DOES SIZE MATTER?
If you’re concerned about farm waste, you might want to consider the size of your eggs. The smallest, called pullets, are laid when hens are about 18 weeks old, but are often discarded by farmers because shops tend to request larger ones. If you can get hold of them, however, they’re great for poaching and baking – Jamie Oliver describes them as “the tastiest you can get”. Last August, Waitrose became the first big brand to sell them. Look out for pullets in a shop near you.
WHAT ABOUT LOOKS?
It would be reasonable to think that eggs with rich, golden yolks come from birds that are healthy and happy, but the colour only indicates the hens’ diet. Paprika makes yolks redder; broccoli, spinach and grass make for a deep yellow shade; and green acorns lead to yolks with a green tinge. The colour of the shell also tells you very little about the life of the bird, depending purely on the breed. White Leghorn hens, for example, lay white-shelled eggs, Plymouth Rocks lay brown.
A study found that free-range eggs contained 30 per cent more vitamin D than those from caged birds
HOW FRESH IS MY EGG?
The maximum best-before date for eggs is 28 days after they’ve been laid, but they may well be fine to eat later. (According to research by the food waste app Too Good To Go, out last year, we threw away 720 million eggs in 2018, partly because we were worried about shelf life.) You can test the freshness of an egg by placing it in water – if it’s fresh, it will sink; if it’s rotten, it will float. This is because, as the egg ages, the size of the air sac increases. To prolong freshness, store eggs somewhere cool with the pointed end down. They only need to be kept in the fridge in hot weather.
WHAT IS A LION MARK?
Eggs with a red Lion stamp have been produced according to certain health and safety standards – the birds, for example, will have been vaccinated against salmonella. With a bit of decoding, the stamp also tells you about the bird’s life. The number on the first line tells you if the bird was organic (0), free-range (1), barn-raised (2) or caged (3). The second line is a producer number, telling you where it came from (see below left for details). The final line is a best-before date.
Eggs without a Lion stamp, however, may well be safe to eat, as some smaller farms haven’t signed up to the scheme, but you might want to find out about the producer.