Organic  Eggs

Conventional Eggs

Avoid conventional eggs, which are delivered by chickens kept in unnatural and unhealthy environments which then pass that to their eggs:

• ❌ Exposure to chemicals: Conventionally raised hens are exposed to antibiotics, pesticides, and other chemicals. Hens are fed genetically modified grains, from crops treated with chemical pesticides

• ❌ Animal welfare issues: Conventional eggs are from chickens that live in unnatural conditions. They are kept unhealthy and restricted in battery cages.

• ❌ Inflammatory issues: Conventional eggs have higher levels of inflammatory omega-6 fatty acids have lower levels of certain nutrients compared to what eggs should have.

Greenwashing Eggs 

Avoid greenwashing eggs. These egg brands pretend to be better or healthier when they are not what you may think.  Will use their deceiving marketing tricks to convince you to buy their products!  Their claims are not enough!

• ❌ Cage-free:  “Cage free” does not mean the birds have had access to the outside. No cages, but crowded barns with thousands of birds fighting for space —not exactly “free.” Cage Free Eggs are sourced come from hens raised in cramped barns, often with several hens per square foot, with no access to the great outdoors. Not so friendly.

• ❌ Free-range: “Free range” or “free roaming” means chickens have access to the outside. However, what access to the outside means is ambiguous. It can mean that outside access is limited and on dirt or concrete. With as little as 2 sq. ft. per hen, the “range” can be about half the size of your coffee table. That’s not a lot—even for an 18″ tall hen. Free-Range Hens live in similar conditions, with the addition of limited outdoor access. The typical free-range setup provides about two square feet of space per hen, often on a cement patio or dirt lot. Sounds nicer than it is.

• Non-GMOs: Hens are fed non-GMO grains; however, pasture and crops may be treated with chemical pesticides, and hens may receive antibiotics.

Organic Eggs

Here is what you need to search for when you are picking the best certified organic eggs at your grocery store. If you don’t find these seals on the packaging, ask the store manager to carry healthier eggs to your community:

✅ Eggs Grade

• USDA Grade AA: Eggs that receive a Grade AA are the freshest and highest quality
• USDA Grade A: Eggs will receive a Grade A very high-quality
• USDA Grade B: Grade B eggs are usually used for breaking stock (liquid eggs) and baking.

✅ USDA Certified Organic: “certified organic” eggs. This means the birds must be fed organic, vegetarian feed and cannot be dosed with antibiotics. Birds cannot be caged. The amount of outdoor access to the birds is not clearly defined, and on many organic farms, birds may have access only to a small concrete yard. For an egg to receive the USDA Organic seal, the hens laying those eggs must be fed a purely organic diet. That means feed that contains no genetically modified foods, animal by-products, synthetic fertilizers, other chemicals, hormones, or pesticides. The hens and their land and feed are free from chemical pesticides, GMOs, and antibiotics, which means you are too. Organic Eggs mean that all non-grass and grubs, supplemental feed, and the chickens that eat are certified organic. Organic hens never receive antibiotics.

✅ Certified Organic Feed: is non-GMO and free of all toxic chemicals. In the pastures and woodlands where their hens roam, they never spray harmful pesticides or herbicides. Important, but only part of a healthy hen’s lifestyle.  

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​✅ Certified Humane: When you see the Certified Humane® Raised & Handled logo on a product, you can be assured that the food products have come from operations that meet precise, objective standards for farm animal treatment. The Certified Humane® Raised and Handled logo can be found on meat, poultry,  eggs, dairy products, pet food, textiles, and personal care products.

It is a little more expensive to raise farm animals humanely, so it usually does cost a little more to buy Certified Humane® foods. But the quality is higher too!

If the carton says “certified humane” it means the birds were raised in a manner that meets the certification requirements of Humane Farm Animal Care. Laying hens must be uncaged and have access to perches, nest boxes, and dust-bathing areas. Flock density is limited, but birds are not required to have access to the outdoors. Beak trimming is allowed; debeaking is not. Starvation to induce molting is not permitted.

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✅ Pasture Raised: If a carton of eggs has both a “pasture-raised” claim and the Certified Humane Raised and Handled seal, it means the “pasture-raised” claim was verified, and the hens were given roughly 10 by 10 feet of pasture per bird (the standards have an outdoor space requirement of no more than 1,000 birds per 2.5 acres, which translates to 108 square feet per bird).

That’s what we call freedom. Pasture-raised hens actively graze and forage outdoors. Each hen has 108+ square feet per hen. 

Note: The Food and Drug Administration oversees the labeling of dairy and eggs. The agency has no common standard for producers to make a “pasture-raised” labeling claim and does not require it to be verified. You will need to check both a “pasture-raised” claim and the Certified Humane Raised and Handled seal.

Pasture-raised eggs taste or look different than other eggs!

Pasture-raised hens’ natural and wholesome diets foster brighter, more orangey-yellow yolks and a fresher, richer taste. Pasture-raised eggs are the best-tasting eggs, with superior baking performance in muffins and cakes. So it turns out, when you treat your hens with respect and care, they treat you well right back.

It’s exactly this lifestyle and diet that make pasture-raised organic eggs nutrient-dense, and it’s also what gives their yolks that beautiful amber color.

Vitamin D in eggs has been observed to increase up to 4 times in hens that have exposure to sunlight, compared to hens that are kept away from sunlight. 

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When you open the egg, the brighter orange the yolk, the more carotenoids the egg contains. We need to encourage pastured egg and chicken production. Pastured eggs contain 10% less fat, 34% less cholesterol, 40% more Vitamin A, and 4 times the amount of omega-3. Pastured chicken meat contains 21% less fat and 50% more Vitamin A than the USDA standard.

When picking eggs at the grocery store, check the 2 certifications on the cartons since the same brands may carry non-organic versions or non-pastured versions!

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✅ Certified Animal Welfare Approved: A Greener World (AGW) has the most rigorous standards for farm animal welfare and environmental sustainability across the globe.

Certified Animal Welfare Approved by AGW:

• Requires animals to be raised on pasture or range

• Awards approval only to independent farmers

• Incorporates the most comprehensive standards for high-welfare farming

🐓Certified Animal Welfare Approved by AGW is the top-ranked food label for animal welfare

• Farms meet the highest animal welfare standards
•  Animals are raised outdoors on pasture for their entire life
•  Birds breathe fresh, clean air, drink pure water, forage, and dust bathe
•  No beak-trimming, confinement, or routine antibiotics
•  Farms are visited by qualified auditors

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✅ Regenerative Organic Certified® (ROC)

Regenerative Organic Certified is designed to go beyond traditional organic certification by addressing gaps in existing standards and promoting regenerative practices that restore and enhance ecosystems and communities. Farm like the world depends on it. The three pillars of Regenerative Organic Certified: soil health, animal welfare, and social fairness. 

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The Best Certified Organic Eggs

On this page, you will find only the best of the best, which means eggs that carry these certifications:

• ✅ Regenerative Organic Certified®: is the best certification you can find in eggs!
• ✅ USDA Certified Organic: which means the chickens didn’t eat any GMO corn or other pesticide-treated food.
• ✅ American Humane Certified™: program that includes standards for both indoor and free-range systems, available to farms of all sizes and structures.
• ✅ Certified Humane^®: program that includes standards for indoor housing systems with enrichments, free-range systems, and pasture-based systems, available to farms of all sizes and structures.
• ✅ Animal Welfare Approved: Global Animal Partnership (Step 2 or higher) is a program that utilizes a multi-level rating system where each successive step represents progressively better welfare
• ✅ Certified Grassfed by AGW: This optional, additional certification is earned by Animal Welfare Approved
• ✅ Plus: Ideally corn-free and soy-free

Here you will find the Best Organic Eggs with the best eggs certification on the market!