What Does Cage Free Egg Mean

October 08, 2019

Well sorry to burst your bubble but this is not the case. Case in point.

Think You Know Free Range And Cage Free Chicken Think Again One Green Planet

And as you might expect the gigantic factory farms that have always brought you conventional eggs laid by hens imprisoned in tiny floor-to-ceiling battery cages inside massive warehouse complexes are now either converting these same factories to cage-free or building new ones as you can see in the photo above.

What does cage free egg mean. They are fed an organic all vegetarian diet free of pesticides or antibiotics. Again that sounds good but the label has a fairly limited legal definition and the practices of some farmers only following the letter of the law make this. It should mean that that hens who lay eggs arent kept in cages right.

For many buyers where that egg came from and how it was produced are just as important as the finished product. Hens who peck in a field or open area and. Unfortunately it is not a USDA-regulated term so it can mean different things depending on the brand.

Organic locally produced cage-free and free range are just a few of the marketing claims consumers will find on the carton as producers try to communicate the attributes. It sounds like an improvement but in reality the law doesnt mean the chickens are cage-free or free-range Even if it did those terms dont mean much in practice. When it comes to purchasing eggs consumers have interests that go well beyond what they see in the carton.

Grade AA and Grade A indicate eggs that have thick whites yolks that are free from defects and clean shells. You might picture hens pecking around a pasture enjoying plenty of space. Cage free simply means that the hens are free to walk around the hen house.

The only stipulation a farmer has to agree to in order to label something cage free is to remove the cage idea from the equation. What exactly does that mean. However this isnt much as these houses are often overcrowded and have very unhealthy living conditions Watson 2017.

So what does cage-free actually mean. Certified Organic hens are kept uncaged and are required to have outdoor access. Cage-free pasture-raised organic humane.

Then the USDA gets involved and producers need to comply with the following. A cage free label on a carton of eggs means they have been laid by hens that are able to roam vertically and horizontally in indoor houses according to the US. Cage free means just that.

In response the egg industry has created labels that sound appealing such as cage-free free-range free-roaming organic and natural in. Eggs packed in USDA grademarked consumer packages labeled as cage free must be produced by hens housed in a building room or enclosed area that allows for unlimited access to food water and provides the freedom to roam within the area during the laying cycle. The vast majority of industrial eggs are laid by hens in cramped cages stuffed wing-to-wing so tight they cant walk spread their wings or do other chickeny things like lay their.

Many people who buy eggs believe free-range means the hens are not caged true and they are roaming outdoors most of the time ehuncertain. And now on to the labeling information and what it all means based on information provided by the USDA. In a caged housing system each hen is typically given enough space to stand upright but not enough space to turn around move around or stretch her wings.

W alking through the egg aisle of any grocery store youll be confronted with a variety of labels on cartons. Cage-free housing can vary from farm to farm. Since both labels contain the word free it seems like the hens in both situations are clucking around the fields with music playing and a.

What Does My Egg Label Mean. Cage-free hens typically live inside barns. On an egg carton cage free means that the hens that laid the eggs were not raised in caged housing systems which is how the vast majority of laying hens in the US.

Egg producers are left to define the term for themselves. Cage-free eggs and free-range eggs. Cage-free marked on a carton of eggs means quite simply that the hens laying those eggs are not kept in cages.

Last Updated November 7 2018. Free-range is not the same as organic. The only stipulation a farmer has to agree to in order to label something cage free is to remove the cage idea from the equation.

The public is becoming more aware of the daily horror that hens endure on factory egg farms. Cage-free eggs are a step up from eggs produced by hens who live in battery cages but the hens who lay these eggs still live constrained and impoverished lives. Free-range is another tricky claim.

What Does Cage Free Really Mean Exactly

Free Range Eggs Wikipedia