Egg Facts

Eggs are packed full of nature’s good stuff. In fact, every egg contains 11 essential vitamins and minerals. Factor in they’re an unbeatable source of protein and are low in carbohydrate and sugar, and you have something pretty special.

Like with all good things, however, there has been some negative perceptions around eggs, nutrition and health. Most of them are just plain wrong. In fact, the Australian National Health & Medical Research Council had this to report recently: “There do not appear to be any increased health risks associated with consumption of eggs.”

Our good friends at Australian Eggs have compiled the latest health and medical reports in an easily digestible form. Plus they have the nutritional information at hand too. Get informed

For more detailed nutritional information, head over to the Egg Nutrition council. Get more

References:
1. National Health and Medical Research Council, Australian Dietary Guidelines. 2013, Commonwealth Department of Health and Ageing: Canberra.

Eggs and hormones, the myth’s busted.

According to a study by the Australian Food and Grocery Council, more than 80% of people think hens are pumped full of growth hormones. And the flawed logic goes that so are the eggs. Wrong, wrong and wrong.

The Australian egg industry doesn’t feed hormones to laying hens. Indeed, hormones were banned in poultry farming way back in the 1950s. Sometimes, sick birds are administered food safe antibiotics under strict veterinary supervision.

Bottom line: all eggs sold in Australia are free from added hormones.

For more information, visit the Healthy Food Guide or the Australian Chicken Meat Federation.

As more and more Australians are choosing free range eggs, one question constantly arises. “How can I be sure they’re actually free range eggs?”  Fair question, here at Farm Pride, we welcome both the question and the scrutiny. So, this is how you can be sure with our eggs.

Firstly, the Trade Practices and Competition and Consumer acts, along with the Food Standards Code, strictly control the marketing and labelling of Australian eggs. Simply, what’s on the carton has to be in the carton. We also guarantee that our eggs are produced in accordance with the voluntary Model Code of Practice for the welfare of animals: domestic poultry.

Our commitment to free range production, however, extends beyond ‘what’s required’. Not only have we implemented best practice procedures that monitor our free range egg production – from farm to store – we also submit ourselves to independent third party auditing.

All of that means when you buy Farm Pride free range eggs, you can have complete confidence they’re exactly that.

You can find out more about the Model Code of Practice here.

Test the freshness of your eggs the easy way. No machinery, equipment or special knowledge required. Simply place your egg in a bowl of water. A fresh egg will generally lie on the bottom of the bowl.

Use this as a general guide only as there are other factors that might cause an egg to float, for example a thinner shell.

Want to know more? Head over to The Kitchn for more about the Fresh Egg Test.
Our friends at Taste have another take on it too.

Absolutely nothing, that’s what. While the double yolk is uncommon, it’s completely natural. All it means is that the egg was laid by a young hen. Simple as that. It’s still an utterly delicious egg, although with extra yolk.

Quite simply, yolk colour is merely an indicator of a hen’s diet. Yolk colour doesn’t indicate an egg has more or less nutritional value. Or if it’s fresher or not. Nor are there any hard facts that link a darker yolk with increased flavour either. It’s purely reflective of what the hen has been eating.

There’s no real mystery about egg sizes – generally young hens lay smaller eggs. As the hen matures, the eggs get bigger. That’s generally the way it goes, but young hens can also lay big eggs, including double yolkers.

The weight listed on the egg carton indicates the total weight of all eggs in the carton. Some eggs in the carton might be a bit smaller, others a bit larger, but together they make up the weight listed. Pretty simple, really.

Final fact: size and weight, just like with shell colour, have no bearing on how an egg will taste.

A common misconception is that eggs are bad for your cholesterol. Recent research has thoroughly debunked that old myth by showing that eggs, as part of a balanced diet, don’t increase cholesterol levels in normally healthy people. Indeed, a recent CSIRO study has linked higher egg consumption with having a better quality diet.

For more comprehensive information on eggs and cholesterol, we encourage you to visit the Heart Foundation.

Storage Tip #1
Here’s an interesting fact to bear in mind. An egg deteriorates faster depending on how it’s stored, rather than how long it’s stored for. So to maintain the quality of your eggs, always keep them in the refrigerator. Besides, eggs don’t like the temperature increasing – they lose freshness really fast – so the fridge is the best place for them anyway.

Storage Tip #2
It’s also preferable to store eggs well away from onions and other strong-smelling foods. Because eggs – on account of being porous – can absorb odours. And you don’t want that.

Storage Tip #3
Our final tip is that eggs are best stored in their cartons with the pointy end facing down. Sounds obvious, it is obvious, but apart from the insulative qualities of the carton, this ensures the yolk is kept centered and the egg cell free from damage.

There’s a heap of great egg-related websites on the internet. For your information, we’ve collected our favourites right here.

Australian Eggs 
Our friends at the Australian Eggs run a great website packed with lots of useful information – nutrition, the latest research, tasty recipes and lots of facts and tips.

Egg Nutrition Council 
As the name suggests, this Australian organisation is all about eggs and nutrition. In-depth, rigorous, interesting and easy-to-digest, it’s got all the nutritional content you need.

International Egg Commission
This website features a heap of fascinating facts, including how World Egg Day is celebrated around the globe.