Are Organic Free-Range Eggs Really Healthier For You?

Mind is All

What's so wonderful about organic, free-range eggs? Are they enhanced taste-wise? Are they more healthy? They sure are more expensive. Is it worth it to pay twice as much just so chickens have more satisfactory lives?

If you read the packages, you'll probably find these three phrases on each: organic, free-range, and hormone-free. What do these terms mean?

If the chickens are fed organic feed, this means they are not fed feed that may contain pesticides and therefore pass down unwanted chemical residue through their eggs. So when you pay that extra money to get the organic eggs, you're paying to protect yourself from chemicals.

If they are hormone-free, the chickens were not given hormones that cause them to become super fat or super-egg producers, but rather, they are allowed to be natural chickens. There is growing concern about the impact of these hormones on people, so you are paying more so you don't have to worry about the possible impact of those hormones on your body.

If the package of eggs says free-range, that means the chickens were raised on a normal farm, able to run around, instead of in a huge chicken house where the chicken spends her entire life in a tiny cage, unable to even move. Free-range chickens are probably healthier and happier chickens, since no one wants to live in a teensy cage, stacked up one upon another, with no exercise or ever seeing the light of day. The bottom line is you are paying for the chickens to live good lives if you pay for free-range eggs, but you're also paying for eggs produced by healthier chickens.

But down to the question we all want the answer to: Do these healthier eggs taste better? Most people don't notice a difference in taste. The determining factors are this: you'll want to by the more expensive eggs if you are concerned about pesticides, hormones, and the health of chickens.