Two Blizzards and a dozen eggs

Hey Northeast, lots of shoveling this week! Apparently, I was in denial about storm number one and we ended up unprepared in the groceries department. Anyone else? I had some pantry items and about a dozen eggs for snowstorm number one. We were better prepared for today, I had fresh fruit, veggies, snacks for Super Bowl and of course…more eggs. While we are here, let’s talk about eggs.

First and foremost, some eggs ARE in fact good for you. Even the yolk!!! There was a time when egg yolks were vilified and we were warned off due to their high cholesterol. Later studies showed there is no association between egg consumption and heart disease according to Dr. Mark Hyman in his book “Food”. So no more limiting to egg white omelets, K?

So, what eggs are good for you? You literally are what you eat. If you consume animal products, you want a healthy, cared for, well fed animal. Choosing eggs from birds that have sunshine, free range of the land, feed on bugs and worms offer healthier, more nutritious eggs. It can be difficult to buy these quality eggs because there are lots of confusing labels on the packages and it can be tricky to buy the best. Here I breakdown the food labels to breakdown the mystery.

• Natural, Fresh, Pure – Meaningless food claims that mean diddly squat.
• Cage-Free – Sounds nice, right? Nah, it only means that the birds are not in cages. It doesn’t mean they are outside, they may be crammed into henhouses and it says nothing about their feed.
• Free-Range – Same as cage free.
• Antibiotic-Free is OK but says nothing about the quality of their feed.
• Hormone-Free – means nothing since it is illegal to give poultry hormones.
• Organic – Best commonly found label. This means the poultry was not fed grain dosed with pesticides or GMOs and weren’t given antibiotics or arsenic to promote fast growth. These chickens may have some access to the outdoors.
• Pasture Raised – BEST IN CLASS, but more expensive and sometimes hard to find. If you can’t find PR, go for organic. Pasture raised means they were not in cages, had barnyard space, and if you can get these eggs they will have the most golden yolks! Look at the photo below, two of the eggs are pasture raised (almost orange yolk), the other is organic.

If an egg carton has no label, you can expect these are eggs from caged birds in terrible conditions that may have the shells may have been “washed” in bleach to make the eggs appear whiter and therefore more appealing.

I hope that helped debunk some of the myths about eggs. Now make an omelet and go sledding with the family!!!