By AMANDA FOOS
Eggs have been proven to play an important role in a healthy diet, but recently, alternatives to the traditional dozen white egg carton have overtaken the shelves at local supermarkets. In addition to traditional eggs, there are now organic, cage free, all natural, vegetarian, omega-3 and liquid, whole, ultra-pasteurized eggs.
With all of this new variety, the many choices now available can leave an untrained shopper confused as to which eggs to buy.
It is common to buy the traditional store brand eggs because they are cheaper. Unfortunately, all too often the hens that produce those eggs are treated inhumanely.
University of Tampa sophomore, Robert Soares, explained that he buys Publix brand eggs because of the low cost. After he learned about the abuse these hens undergo, he said, “I will definitely change my focus when buying eggs now and go for the cage free sold eggs, not just because of the abuse but also for the health factors and concerns.”
According to an Eggland’s Best representative, hens that are used to produce traditional eggs are housed in a barn with 250,000 other hens.
They are kept in cages in groups of five. The hens not kept in cages are allowed to roam freely inside the barn.
The cages that the traditional egg producing chickens are kept in are raised off the ground so that they aren’t living in their own feces. Eggland’s Best employees patrol the barn, maintain cleanliness and look for hens that have died to prevent the other hens from feeding on the deceased.
Organic eggs are produced by hens that are kept in a barn that also houses approximately 250,000 hens.
They are fed all natural, organic feed, are not kept in cages, and have a sun deck to allow them exposure to natural sunlight.
They are also not treated with any kind of hormones, pesticides, or intrusive antibiotics.
Cage free eggs are produced from hens that are raised similarly to organic hens only without the sun deck, although the barns do allow for natural sunlight.
The Eggland’s Best representative made it very clear that he could only speak of Eggland’s Best’s egg-producing practices.
He could not speak about Cal-Maine Foods.
Eggland’s Best and Cal-Maine Foods are two of the largest producers of fresh shell eggs. Although Eggland’s Best produces their own eggs, they send them from their farms to Cal-Maine for distribution. According to Cal-Maine Foods, in 2008 they produced and distributed 15.8 percent of the total consumption of fresh eggs.
Hens raised in battery cages produce the majority of traditional white eggs. Many animal rights groups have called for the boycott of these eggs due to the inhumane treatment of many of these chickens.
Throughout October and November of 2010, a Humane Society activist who worked undercover at a Cal-Maine farm in Waelder, Texas found evidence of animal cruelty and abuse.
During the month the employee spent undercover, he managed to catch many of the abusive acts and neglect on film. That film is now posted on the Humane Society’s website.
The hens were bloody, their feathers had fallen off, and their skin was rubbed raw because there were too many living in a single cage.
Many had open wounds, sores, broken bones and a few had their uteri exposed. It is common for a hen to get their neck, wings, or feet stuck in the battery cage, leaving them trapped and left to die.
Many birds were kept in a single cage and did not have access to food and water. Dead birds were left to rot in the cages with the other chickens. As a result, the eggs produced were often covered in blood and other specimens, posing a health risk for consumers.
An investigator from Mercy for Animals found temporary employment at Norco Ranch in Menifee, CA and found the chickens there were subject to the same abuse that the hens from Cal-Maine farm were.
Although chickens can live up to ten years if properly cared for, the chickens there were only used for two years before they were killed.
When it came time for the chickens to be killed, the workers went down the lines of cages pulling the hens out and slammed them into the giant dumpsters they were pulling behind them. They were then gassed and dumped into a dump truck to be hauled away.
The chickens that didn’t make it to the two year mark due to illness or injury were picked up by their necks and heads, spun around in an attempt to break their necks, and left to die.
The worker wrote in his diary, “I also found a heavily decomposed hen in a top cage with three live hens. Her body was trampled flat with organs dangling through the wire flooring.”
After senior Rachel Fishman, an elementary education major, watched the Humane Society’s video she said, “I will definitely start looking into the practices of the food manufacturers I purchase from. To make the hens live in filthy, crowded cages is absolutely appalling.”