Friday, March 06, 2009
Of Chickens and Eggs
6-MAR-2009:
I have been doing some research on all the labelling on meat and eggs, such as free-range, corn-fed, organic, etc. What do they really mean? What's the difference between cage-free eggs and barn eggs and free-range eggs and organic eggs? If you're interested to know, read on. :-)
Poultry
The UK Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has a set of guidelines on what is required in order for poultry (specifically chickens) to be labelled corn-fed, free-range or organic. When there isn't any label, it's called a conventional chicken. The guidelines talk about how much space and fresh air the chicken must get, what type of food they have to be fed and how old they must be before they're slaughtered. From reading a lot of websites, it seems that a lot of people are concerned about the welfare of the chickens, i.e. how cruelly they're treated before they are eventually cruelly slaughtered and eaten - as if by giving the chickens a better 'life', it will compensate for the cruelty of eating them eventually. I think these people are hyprocrites. The only way to not be cruel is to not eat them. I started this little research not because I'm concerned about the welfare of the animals but I'm concerned about what I eat - what is better for my family.
Conventional British chickens are fed conventional food, typically grains and carbohydrates which are very good at fattening animals and which may contain pesticides, herbicides, fertilizers, etc. Additionally, there are no guidelines on how much space is required to house the chickens so there may be 20,000 chickens in a 6 foot by 6 foot area. Because of the poor diet and crammed living condition, they often get sick, therefore antibiotics and other drugs are used on an ongoing basis in an attempt to keep them healthy. The residue of the pesticides, herbicides and antibiotics will get stored in the chicken fat, according to one website (but it didn't actually say that they're ONLY stored in the fat and not the meat). To be on the safe side, remove all fat from chicken before eating.
When chickens are labelled "corn-fed", it means that at least 50% of their diet must come from corn/maize. I'm not really sure how this is better. I thought corn is also carbohydrate but I guess it is a better quality of carbohydrate with more nutrients and less pesticides. And also, corn-fed chickens are typically slower growing. Before I continue, let me just mention that the use of growth hormones on poultry is banned in the EU (which includes the UK) for any type of chicken.
Defra says that free-range chickens must have x metre square of space per chicken. In addition, they must have access to open-air runs at least half of their lifetime. Their diet must consist of 70% of corn/maize. And there is a minimum age before the chicken can be slaughtered. In theory, the chickens are healthier (better diet and more exercise), hence better for consumption.
Organic chickens must meet all of the requirements of free-range but with more stringent rules on feed and space. They must be reared on organic grounds, be fed only organically certified food and absolutely no antibiotics and medication is allowed (which means they will not be treated even if ill). In theory, they are more healthy than free-range chickens. Note that I said "in theory", we don't know how true.
Eggs
We have factory eggs (caged), barn eggs, free range eggs and organic eggs. Somehow the requirements for these labels are not as tightly defined as for poultry meat.
Factory eggs are laid by hens housed is cages, with very little space to move about. Living condition is bad and unhealthy. In theory, they will lay less healthy eggs with less omega 3. Again, in theory.
Barn eggs are laid by happier hens who live in barns - more space, special requirements for litter area, feeding throughs and so on.
Free-range eggs are laid by free-range hens. However, the definition of free-range for egg-laying hens is different for free-range chicken raised for their meat. Egg-laying free-range hens are housed in the barn system described above with only the addition of a patch of land outside the barn that the hens can continously access. That's the intention anyway. In actual fact, the patch of open air land may be dominated by the stronger hens and the weaker ones may never go out at all. Besides, there's no regulation on how big that patch of land should be, so it might just be a patch of dirt.
Organic eggs just means eggs that are laid by hens that are fed on organic food and raised on organic land. In theory, these eggs have the highest level of omega 3.
So there ... after reading all these, is it still worth it to pay the extra money? As for me, I would still continue to go organic on vegetables on fruits, free range on meat and eggs. Occassionally I would buy organic meat too if the free-range ones aren't available, but I never go organic on eggs.
