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Are cage-free eggs better than free-range eggs?
Are cage-free eggs better than battery cages?
Should you eat cage-free eggs?
Cage-free: “Cage-free” is not analogous to “free-range.” It means that hens are not bound by cages and have unlimited access to food and water. Conditions on cage-free farms can be miserable. Overcrowded barns and poultry houses don’t give hens enough room to forage for plants and insects or dust-bathe.
- What Egg Producers Say
- Cage Free vs. Free Range Eggs
- What Are Pasture-Raised Eggs?
- What Are Organic Eggs?
- Are There Nutritional Differences Between These Labels?
- Which Egg Label Is The Most Sustainable?
- Cage-Free vs. Free-Range? Organic Or Pasteurized?
- More Food Questions Answered
Egg producers are savvy: They know consumers like these differentiations because the buyers believe they're getting a premium product. Nearly two in three consumers surveyed said they try to choose foods made with clean ingredients, according to a recent survey from the International Food Information Council(IFIC). And for those consumers, "clean" ...
What Are Cage-Free Eggs?
"Ninety percent of consumers think cage-free means the birds go outside," says McKeon. But in reality, cage-free has no requirement for going outdoors. The hens don't have to see grass or sunshine. "What they get is 1.2 square feet per bird," explains McKeon. Cage-free is a government-defined label, unlike some other labels. That one-plus square foot is truly and literally free of cages, which sounds animal-friendly. And it can be—after all, the hens must be able to roam freely during their l...
What Are Free-Range Eggs?
Like cage-free, free-range also largely refers to the space that the bird gets. And just like cage-free, free-range is a government-regulated term. But the difference between cage-free vs. free-range is that each bird has 2 square feet of outdoor access. So, in addition to a larger cage-free roaming life, the hen must be able to get outdoors, says the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).
Pasture-raised is the only one of these four terms not regulated by the government. "Where there isn't regulation, you can find a lot of B.S.," says McKeon. Pasture-raised is a term similar to "natural" on food labelswhere producers could use their own definition of pasture-raised, which may not match another brand or your perception. Sometimes the...
"Organic refers to the feed that birds get," says McKeon. And among consumers aiming to eat cleaner, 16% look for theorganic label, per IFIC. By definition, eggs labeled organic come from uncaged hens that are allowed to roam freely, have access to the outdoors, and eat an organic-certifieddiet.
Regarding egg nutrition, egg producers can engineer nutrition profiles with what they feed the hens. "There will be a noticeable nutritional difference if [hens] are fed a feed intended to provide a marked difference in the eggs' nutritional quality. The nutritional value of the egg is typically only impacted by the feeding program for the hen," ex...
The answer truly depends on how you define sustainable. Some argue that conventional egg farming (think: cages and barns) has the smallest carbon footprint. "There have been multiple studies done that show that all cage-free or free-range require vastly greater amounts of water, grains, land, and make a much larger impact on the environment," expla...
"Eggs have many nutritional benefits," says McKeon. Eggs aren't too calorie-heavy and deliver a nice protein punch with very few carbs (hello, low-carb and higher-protein dieters). You also get additional micronutrients like choline, lutein, and zeaxanthin from eggs. Overall, which egg product you gravitate towards depends on your purchasing goals ...
Jun 14, 2022 · So, Are Free-Range Eggs Better? The simple answer, yes free-range is better for the life of the hen and seems to add better nutritional value to the eggs since the chickens can forage. Chickens, like most animals and humans, feel stressed when confined to too small of an area.
Jul 17, 2019 · According to All About Eggs by Rachel Khong, cage-free facilities have more hen-on-hen violence and lower air quality than facilities that use cages. Free-range, another USDA term, means that...
Apr 4, 2022 · Although cage-free eggs are superior to eggs produced in battery cages, cage-free setups nonetheless can have negative consequences for animals. USDA cage-free standards only require that facilities don't keep hens in battery cages.
Jun 26, 2020 · By Karen Fredrickson / June 26, 2020 2:34 pm EST. Eggs come with many labels, from generic grocery store eggs to cage-free eggs, and from free-range to grass-fed eggs. The best eggs to buy are cage-free, though grass-fed or organic cage-free will have similar health benefits, as the main difference is in the life of the chicken.
Mar 3, 2024 · When only cage-free or conventionally farmed eggs are available, cage-free eggs are often seen as the better choice. After all, chickens are not stacked in wire boxes with up to nine other creatures. They are free to move about and may also have access to perches and nesting boxes.
