What are the best eggs? Egg crackdown (CBC Marketplace)

this is marketplace the ultimate egg crack down when we're buying ethical eggs are we getting what we're paying for so many choices what makes a better egg so it depends how they were raised and how they were hatched caged or cage free if the chickens not happy you will lay an egg right honestly don't care much about the treatment of chicken what's more nutritious what's best for the chicken and what tastes best it makes me think of sunshine this is your marketplace we're about to get cracking welcome thank you so much like putting one of your favorite foods to the test do you like about a they have good protein take a little bacon cooking up a storm chef Jon Lee he's a restaurant owner and George Brown College instructor I try and balance I think what's my palate wants to taste and there we have it versus what my mind wants to taste do you like it fluffy or you like it more soggy anyway John cook our testers have no labels to read though you will sue no idea of what brand they're tasting this looks lighter so it depends how they were raised and how they were hatched on the menu today conventional free run organic free-range and pasture depending on budget do we want to spend that much money on organic this or cruelty free that how far does your morality extend towards your economic reality good question what guides our choices when buying our eggs cost price definitely its first thing that I really consider when I'm buying eggs cost is key for mom Cindy why is that important to you because there are a lot of things that you can't cut cost on like kids after school activities and that type of thing but food and groceries are one thing that I think that you can and that's why Cindy buys conventional the cheapest and most popular from cage birds always salt at the end should we try some what do you think all right now sure you're a wonderful helper Thank You Betty first up the top sellers burn brains and gray ribs I grew up on an egg farm and the consistency of the eggs that's always different spurt for every fire who knew burn Bray's not off to a good start it's very bland very bland yeah how about gray ridge the gorgeous brilliant color it makes me think of sunshine sunshine sounds idyllic but with the very cheapest ones my worry is that they're being raised in the way that's most cost-effective and probably carrying least about the well-being in the health of the animals you've probably heard about concerns like Katherine's in campaigns like this animal rights activists have been battling against conventional battery cages for years they say cage free is the only way to go and encourage us to make guilt-free choices by me when we're in the grocery store I mean I'm certified organic who cares I'm a buck cheaper but our conventional cages all that bad I'm heading to southwestern Ontario to a source of conventional aids we're gonna disinfect the bottom of your boots before we go in Dan Veldman has been an egg farmer for almost 20 years Ranma suit a surprise guess the general manager from egg farmers of Ontario yes I'm suited up to protect the birds from disease like avian flu how's this for a fashion statement tagging along to the associations PR guy we're gonna head over to Bern to each conventional or battery cage barn has 20,000 birds Wow yes that's a huge operation well it is it's a family farm family farm some might call it a factory farm this system is about keeping eggs separated but yet still having ski that you can get the collection done his collection goes to grey Ridge one of Canada's biggest sellers so how many birds in a cage these have six and you can notice as we with the light of the camera they get a little bit a little bit Restless and when it comes to cages like these there's trouble at the henhouse the European Union banned battery cages in 1999 scientists had seen abnormal behavior in birds farmers had 12 years to get rid of them other countries have followed suit but Canada battery cages like dams could be around for another 20 years and Dan says that's okay the activists tell us that you know they're going to live in the pourable filth for twenty years they're not they're well cared for there's a farmer on the farm still it's cramped quarters look at how the hams head touches the manure belt but to Dan it's economical as you can notice the hands are well feathered it keeps a very clean age their whole life is spent caged they're singing and they're eating and that means a lot to what's going on in your barn to the environment to the hen health but it's the kind of life that taster Catherine questions when you go to the grocery store do you seek that out yeah I look for something that looks like it's not factory farmed buying freerun organic eggs it's really expensive so I don't want to make light of that but battery cage tends have horrible lives Loraine Johnson's written city farmer and argues the case for backyard chickens they can be a great source of eggs to Lorraine every hand in a backyard is one less in a factory I first met her late last summer hile I ever thought of raising your own backyard hens whoo for amateurs like me oh I'm scared it's not easy I have done my fair share of chicken chasing try not to get them really freaked out or stressed do you have any tricks getting them comfortable and familiar with you and the way to do that is always like with any animal through food right of course it's as if she's a chicken whisperer this is home she knows it's a safe place they're curious creatures keep their lives as interesting as possible Lorraine says birds can have a better life when they're not confined to a space the size of this square outdoors they do what comes naturally pet sunbathe scratch and stretch if the animal hasn't been treated well you're eating that anxiety that's in the animal like the chickens are unhappy in a cage at all why do you say that because if you go in a bar and you see them there the birds are happy that's it happy now because oh because I made sure that the chickens not happy about lay an egg that's it there are all kinds of ways so that they can breed tends to be basically industrial products doesn't necessarily mean they're happy it means they're basically a machine I honestly don't care much about the treatment of chickens and I'm probably the only person here who's going to say that that was a debate oh just all the sudden everything just got like job selecting people a more ethical a this is the future and we get cracking with cage-free they're getting their money's worth do you taste the difference marketplace laying out your options one egg at a time ready to get the sound you hear the sound watch yeah we're getting cracking taste testing scrambled eggs when it comes to our conscience and our wallets what's best for the Cluckers what's best for you you taste the difference oh yeah immediately they don't know it yet but our tasters are trying ex from hens on grass it was much stronger than I noticed what the other a your own mouth they're wrong yeah this carton costs almost twice as much as caged any clue of what type of eggs this might be terrible will our ethical expert guess right I guess conventional myself yikes remember this test is blind but even with labels dietician Christy Brissette says it's a guessing game there's so many different terms out there are they natural are they free range free run does it have to be organic and paying more are you actually getting what you're paying for yep that's all that's a huge question marketplace viewer catherine herds trying to answer that question I've been trying to make a balance between buying eggs that are affordable but also buying ones that are ethical nests laid from hens raised an enriched colony housing nests laid enriched this brand costs about 50 cents more than conventional is it worth the extra coin Catherine wants to see firsthand do you have any farms where I could visit to see how they're raised no no so there's no way I could tour a farm no she's told to go online for a virtual tour so this is the enriched colony that is designed to give birds more space to move around sounds better than conventional battery cages they're pretty close together Catherine can't get in but we can we're transitioning over to farm 3 I'm back with Dan Veltman will control their lighting I'm sure their Laney yeah my good lady yeah one of his barns has enriched housing this was one of the first barns in Ontario to have enriched housing seems like it's just a bigger cage at the camera here you know the birds are a little bit nervous so how is it different from conventional and these colonies here they'll be about 30 and they get double the square inches more room and far less birds than his conventional burn it looks like they're in line waiting for the yeah yes each colony has a scratch pad and purchase science has told us the birds want to be in private they want to be in a little dark box too later a hey no peeking gettin all rough yeah they are if I was going into a grocery store how would I know that my eggs they're coming free right there yeah so it'll either say in rich colony rich coupe nests laid the seals on them hat isn't high yet it'll come there we go we have a huge appetite for eggs spending about 2 billion on them a year can we have something that's commercially viable but also ethically acceptable and that's kind of the middle ground that people are looking for in terms of large-scale production the egg industries answer to that in rich cages like dams and whether you think they're a reasonable compromise they're the future this system to me is gonna be you know what I'd like to call maybe the gold standard a gold standard supported by the egg farmers of Canada some balance you know between the animal welfare you know worker safety most farmers have battery cages they'll have until 2036 to get rid of them you don't do this overnight it has to be a transition that that we can perfect them that we can make we don't want to make mistakes but why not go cage free in Canada some of the largest fast-food chains say they're making the switch in the next 10 years there is a greater demand I mean restaurants like McDonald's and Tim Hortons committing to KD I'm gonna wait and see how that plays out yet when the consumers go to a grocery store 90% of them by a conventional egg I want to produce what the consumer wants but caged eggs aren't what Katherine wants back on her virtual tour she's trying to get to the bottom of free run no cages here the hens live in a barn they still look really mechanized and the barns are huge how about free-range its barn life as well but hens have access to the outdoors in theory it was a huge outdoor run but there were almost no chickens in it it's up for interpretation from farm to farm take this one the site claims birds prefer the comfort of their barn say what birds don't want to go outside ready yeah sure let's do it this means free range at Marty prongs farmed he's part of a farmer owned cooperative organic meadow their label claim eggs from hens on pasture it's old McDonald style here and the only cage these hands have is a fence they'll they're pecking out something new they're curious yeah they are just loving my boots until it's cold his hands get to room fresh air sunshine that does a lot of good to an animal it's december so grass isn't growing and that's why it looks rough like this but look it they're still happy to pick and scratch Marty admits his type of farming takes more work sometimes you will see one hand that is being chased birds also pack sometimes Marty's got a play referee organic feeds more expensive so this is it and hang gathering eggs takes effort so this is a nesting box where the hens lay their eggs the cost a pricier egg over four dollars more than caged not everyone can afford your eggs I know but I think the consumer can feel confident that what they're buying they're getting their money's worth I honestly do sample come on our tasters are giving organic Meadows a world forget about me if anyone doesn't want this just joking f is really delicious I'm actually enjoying really delicious all right oh sorry my guess would be organic but I also know it can depend on what the hens are eating she's right a hens diet can affect taste how about nutrition we sent our samples for lab testing and there's a difference a big one so who's at the top of the pecking order organic meadow and when it comes to hens on pasture other studies show similar results are you ready to hear the results sure yep go ahead okay well nutritionally speaking organic meadow did the best really that's good I and I don't I don't want to seem surprised but I'm pleasantly surprised we must be doing something right the areas that did well in vitamin E it had three to five times more than other eggs there were twice as much omega threes vitamin A as well and vitamin D was much higher ya know that's nice to hear so anyway I'm passionate a little bit Marty says it's a testament to his approach it's good that people appreciate that find out how your favorite brand stacks up time to crack open the truth totally shocked and humiliated that was my favorite what do you want for breakfast tell us which eggs you want on your plate at cbc.ca slash marketplace marketplace giving your breakfast an egg up I want more for me I can tell all right six samples of eggs from different farming methods it's good it's not my favorite can our tasters figure out who's laid their favorite Lauren I'm really enjoying this a sample F I think it's very good she says sample app like she knows okay no no no I don't know and I'm terrified I can't wait honestly tell you guys find out what it actually is because of course I have my own speculations time to crack open the truth hmm are you ready yeah ready show of hands you can only choose one sample a not one um I've said whoa that's burn braised conventional you made a face there wise coz that's what I that what I knew that yeah right moving on sample B rub it's gray Ridge free run also a bust next up small flocks delight pricier than the first two and also not popular sample see you say wow why cuz I was pretty sure it was conventional and I actually get the small flock um every now and again time of year plays a huge difference too because summertime the hens are out and about enjoying life eating insects eating grasses and that affects the flavor and the colors the kids like burn Brae organic but a majority prefer sample D gray Ridge conventional sample D Wow one two three four you like sample D right that was my favorite my favorite too oh my goodness yeah it's a tie between gray ridge conventional and organic meadow I'm totally shocked and humiliated and all that stuff well because I know when I have hens in my own backyard I am convinced that I can tell the difference like so strongly I was so sure like I would have put money on it thinking hey this is a happy hen I'm eating the egg of a happy hand and I was so certain and I couldn't taste it Catherine what do you think my top pick was the organic meadow I think given the ethical issues I would probably still buy organic but I didn't find a huge range of difference orally we all have that choice but some people don't have that choice financially absolutely you got it the kids certainly picked the organic as their first choice which I found was interesting but they're not buying the groceries yet so it's better get a paper route what will our taste testers think of our nutritional result ready for the big reveal sample F yeah sample F is organic meadow while all the brand's met their label claims nutritionally organic meadow eggs came out on top dietician Christy Brissette analyzed our results so the fat profile of the egg is healthier and vitamins like vitamin D that are fat soluble that you'll find in the yolk they were a lot higher in the organic sample same thing with vitamin A and vitamin E will these results make a difference the next time they shop not for Hank he chose gray Ridge conventionals it has all the qualities that I need to be comfortable and eating it so it doesn't change him no not really Catherine what are your thoughts I think it's really reassuring to know that you know if along with the flavor goes better nutrition as well I mean this then it sounds really like it is worth paying that little bit extra very informative lot to digest I learned a lot today about eggs and I mean it will make me think twice how do you feel now that you've finished the taste test Eggstravaganza well so so so much quieter I think they're ready to sleep it's a lot of rich food everyone go home and eat a South yeah from the dieticians about

Channel: CBC News

Views: 1,719,549

Rating: 4.7499151 out of 5

Keywords: CBC News, CBCNews, CBC broadcasting media, public broadcasting, news, Canadian News, Canadian Broadcasting Corportation (TV network), CBC News Network, publishing, food, egg, eggs, chickens, hens, farming, organic, free-range, free-run, pastured, animal welfare, animal rights, cbc marketplace, marketplace, marketplace cbc, diet, nutrition

Id: mc_ccH0xvJw

Length: 21min 53sec (1313 seconds)

Published: Fri Mar 11 2016