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I love eggs. They’re great in the morning for a quick, protein rich breakfast and hard-boiled eggs are a great snack you can make in advance and have on hand.
But how do you know which eggs you should be buying? There are so many different labels on eggs nowadays that it can get confusing, and many of the packaging labels can be pretty misleading.
Chances are you’ve heard of all the great benefits of eggs recently but did you know there’s a huge difference in the nutrition of a commercially produced egg and an egg from a pasture raised hen? Compared to factory farmed eggs, eggs from pasture-raised hens that have been allowed to roam freely and eat bugs have been shown to contain:
• 1/3 less cholesterol
• 1/4 less saturated fat
• 2/3 more vitamin A
• 2 times more omega-3 fatty acids
• 3 times more vitamin E
• 7 times more beta carotene
Here’s a little break down to help you make the right choice next time you’re faced with row after row of egg cartons.
“Natural”
This just means nothing was added to the egg in terms of colorings, flavorings, etc. These hens are probably fed antibiotics and hormones.
“Vegetarian-Fed”
This one tricks a lot of people. It means the birds feed doesn’t contain any animal byproducts – which is a good thing- but hens are naturally supposed to be eating bugs and vegetarian feed means no bugs.
“Cage-Free”
Hens are un-caged, usually inside a barn and don’t have access to the outdoors.
“Certified Organic”
Again un-caged inside barns but they are also required to have outdoor access. The amount of space, quality of outdoor access and duration of time they spend outside is not defined. Hens are fed an organic, all vegetarian diet with no antibiotics or pesticides.
“Free-Range” or “Free-Roaming”
Many people opt for these instead of certified organic but there are no restrictions on what the birds can be fed and there is no third party auditing.
“Real Pastured”
This means the hens have been allowed to wander around, get some sun and eat some yummy bugs!