Head down the supermarket egg aisle and you’re bound to get sticker shock - prices jumped 60 percent last year!
Even with recent price breaks, they’re still expensive.
That’s why we’re working for you, to break down your options when it comes to which eggs to buy and whether it’s worth paying a premium for them.
The egg aisle isn’t as simple as it used to be. Today, shoppers are faced with dozens of options at different prices: cage-free, free-range, organic, and more.
But what does it all mean, and is it worth paying more for any of them?
“A lot of these terms on egg cartons don’t really have any defined meaning, and if you’re going to pay a premium price for eggs you want to make sure you’re getting what you think you’re getting,” Trisha Calvo with CR said.
Consumer Reports said you can ignore labels like “farm fresh” and “no hormones.”
“All eggs are from farms, and all eggs are natural, so “farm fresh” and “natural” really have no clear meaning. And by law, chickens can’t be given hormones. So a carton of eggs that have these claims isn’t really any different from a carton that doesn’t,” Calvo said.
CR said “cage-free” is another misleading label.
While it’s true the hens aren’t kept in cages, CR said they can still be kept indoors, often in crowded conditions.
CR said the “free range” label is also dubious.
“Free-range birds aren’t kept in cages and they do have outdoor access - but they can still be raised in crowded conditions and the outdoor area can be very tiny,” Calvo said.
If the eggs have an “organic,” seal, it means the eggs were laid by hens fed grains grown without most synthetic pesticides or GMOs.
The birds cannot be raised in cages and must have outdoor access - though that could still mean confined conditions in a building with just a small concrete porch.
CR said “pasture-raised” on its own isn’t meaningful.
But if it’s paired with the certified humane label, CR said you can be sure the chickens had access to a pasture with space to do chicken things like pecking for seeds and bugs.
If buying eggs from healthier hens who were raised in more humane conditions is important to you, CR said to choose “pasture-raised” but be prepared to pay more, well over five dollars per dozen.