Laurel on Health Food

Cooking Light Magazine explained what the different labels mean on egg cartons at the grocery store or supermarket. Here’s the deal:

• “Free-range or free-roaming” - hens live out of cages in indoor facilities, but have some outside access.
• “Cage-free” - hens can roam free in a barn or poultry house, but usually do not go outdoors. Hens can walk, nest, and spread their wings.
• “Certified organic” - hens are not given any antibiotics or hormones.
• “Hormone-free” - basically meaningless because poultry is rarely given hormones.
• “Certified humane” - hens are uncaged with plenty room to nest and perch. The Humane Farm Animal Care and the USDA inspect and certify these farms.
• “Natural” - all eggs are natural because they never have artificial flavors or color.
• “Pasteurized” - eggs are heated to kill bacteria.  Unpasturized egg whites may give better volume in baking than pasturized egg whites.
• “Omega-3 eggs or DHA” - hens are fed seed that is high in omega-3 fatty acids, therefore the omega-3 content in the eggs is higher.
• “Vegetarian or vegetarian-fed” - hens are fed a vegetarian diet.

Ref: Cooking Light magazine, April 2007, p. 34

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 27th, 2007 at 10:21 pm and is filed under Food labels. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

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