Consumer Reports has no financial relationship with any advertisers on this site.
Still, there are probably several brands of eggs in your supermarket at a range of prices, labeled with a variety of claims. If it’s important to you that the chickens were raised outdoors, for example, and the cage-free eggs are cheaper than the free-range eggs, should you go for the ones that cost less?
Knowing the real meaning behind these and other claims on egg labels can help you make the right choices for you.
Cage-free
This term means that the hens are not kept in cages, but it doesn’t mean they’re clucking around in the fresh air and sunshine. They can be kept indoors, often in crowded conditions.
Farm fresh
All eggs come from “farms,” even if the farm is a big building where chickens are packed into cages, so this labeling claim has no value. The term “fresh” generally means the product hasn’t been frozen, but eggs in the shell should never be frozen.
Free range
The birds aren’t kept in cages and they have outdoor access, but they can still be raised in crowded conditions and the outdoor area can be tiny. But the combination of free range and either the Certified Humane or American Humane Certified labels on the carton means the birds can access a spacious outdoor run.
Natural
People often mistake “natural” for “organic,” but the two terms are different. By definition, an egg is a natural food product, so slapping “natural” on it has no clearly defined additional meaning.
No hormones
By law, chickens that produce eggs and those that are sold for meat can’t be given hormones, so eggs with this claim on the package label are no different from eggs sold without it.
Organic
This seal means eggs were laid by hens fed grains grown without synthetic pesticides or GMOs. The birds cannot be raised in cages or given antibiotics. They must have outdoor access, although in some cases this can still mean confined conditions in a building with just a small concrete porch.
Pasture-raised
There’s no standard definition of this term, so on its own the meaning may not be clear. But with the Certified Humane or the American Humane Certified labels, which have similar standards for pasture-raised hens, the chickens must have access to a pasture with space to perform natural behaviors, such as pecking for seeds and bugs.
Copyright 2022, Consumer Reports Inc.
Consumer Reports is an independent, nonprofit organization that works side by side with consumers to create a fairer, safer, and healthier world. CR does not endorse products or services, and does not accept advertising. Read more at ConsumerReports.org.