Was there ever such a thing as an egg being an egg or have there always been specialty eggs with prices to match? Conventional, free range, organic, cage free… but what does it all mean? Let’s take a closer look at egg labels.

Conventional eggs are packaged with no special labels. However, in regards to the animal’s welfare, less than half a square foot of space is devoted to each hen (which is not even enough room for them to spread their wings) . Typically the diet is unknown or not noted.

Cage Free is pretty much self explanatory and has everything to do with the welfare of the animal and little to do with diet. The hens are free to move as they wish without being confined to a cage or any restricted space. They are able to engage in natural behaviors such as walking and spreading their wings.

Free Range implies that chickens live on thriving green pastures. Also known as Free Roaming.

Organic labels means the hens were fed only organic feed. This could also mean no animal byproducts are found in the feed. They are fed an organic all vegetarian diet, free of antibiotics and pesticides as required by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Organic Program. The USDA has to approve it to be organic in order for it to be sealed that way.

Vegetarian means the hens were fed a strict vegetarian diet. However, chickens are in fact omnivores not vegetarians and will naturally eat bugs, and grub. This term has little to no significance to animals living conditions and welfare.

Pastured means the chickens were raised on a pasture. With all access to the sun, grass, bugs, grains and other feed (sounds glamorous doesn’t it…it is).

So now the real question, which type of eggs are the healthiest? The USDA claims that all eggs are equally healthy. However, the input should correlate with the output right?

According to a study done by Mother Earth News, pasteurized eggs have 1/3 less cholesterol, ¼ less saturated fat, 2/3 more vitamin A, 2 times more omega-3 fatty acids, 3 times more vitamin E, 7 times more beta creotene, and 4-6 times more vitamin D.

So, next time you are at the store, take a closer look at the kind of eggs you tend to buy. The things that set the higher price should be taken into consideration (diet and welfare) and are worth the extra buck to make certain you are not only getting the most bang for your buck (nutrition wise) but that you are also supporting farmers that take the welfare of chickens seriously.