Are battery-cage eggs safer?
The European Food Safety Authority reviewed all of the available scientific studies of food safety risks in different layer housing systems and found that properly managed cage-free flocks have no higher rates of dirty, cracked, or otherwise downgraded eggs, than caged flocks. In cage-free systems, eggs laid on litter rather than in nests could theoretically pose a higher risk of Salmonella contamination. However, a recent study by the UK Food Standards Agency found no significant differences in Salmonella contamination of eggs produced in cages, deep litter, free-range, and organic systems. Other studies have found the incidence of Salmonella is influenced more by the genetics of the layer strain than by housing.9 Every major grocery store in America, including Walmart, Safeway, Alberton’s, and Giant, offer cage-free eggs. Some grocery stores such as Whole Foods and Wild Oats (two of the largest natural food store chains in the country) only offer cage-free eggs. Three of the largest
