ARS: No quality difference between eggs

There is no substantial quality difference between organically and conventionally produced eggs, according to findings from an Agricultural Research Service (ARS) study examining various aspects of egg quality.

ARS food technologist Deana Jones and her team in the Egg Safety and Quality Research Unit in Athens, Ga., found that, on average, there was no substantial quality difference between types of eggs. So, no matter which specialty egg is chosen, it will be nearly the same quality as any other egg.

About 6.5 bln dozen shell eggs are produced each year in the US, with a value of about $7 bln, according to the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Economic Research Service.

The ARS team found the biggest difference was the size of egg within a carton between brown and white eggs. Though brown eggs weighed more, white shell eggs had higher percentages of total solids and crude fat. But, according to the study, there was no significant difference in the quality of white and brown eggs.

Jones and her team conducted a survey of white and brown large-shell eggs with various production and nutritional differences such as traditional, cage-free, free-roaming, pasteurized, nutritionally-enhanced, and fertile. The goal was to determine if physical quality and compositional differences exist among these different eggs.