What's the hidden ingredient in "pure" maple syrup? FIND OUT HERE.

Finally, egg test results are in! Guess what? Yolk color does not matter.

written by

Marie Reedell

posted on

December 20, 2024

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Exciting news --- we've been waiting for months and just got our egg test results in!!! 

Keep reading for the reasoning behind the tests and a little analysis of what the results mean. Want to skip straight to the hard data from the lab? Click here. 

A Quick Recap Explaining Why We Tested Eggs.

Earlier this year, we lost trust in the feed supplier for our laying hens. Even though they said the feed was corn & soy free, something wasn't adding up (you can read more details about the drama here). So, we switched.

At that time, we made the choice to NOT include any colorants in the feed, even natural ones like marigold and paprika (you can read about every single ingredient in our new feed here). Despite having the same new feed and the same pastured living conditions, some flocks produced orange yolks and some produced yellow yolks.

This led to a lot of customer confusion. I mean, aren't pastured egg yolks supposed to be orange? Isn't that how you know an egg has max nutrition? That's what I thought, too. 

I knew we needed to verify some things. So, we bit the bullet and paid for lab testing. 

We sent 5 different egg samples to Dr. Stephan Van Vliet, PhD. He's the Director of Food Metabolomics Lab at the University of Utah. And, he's the same guy who tested our chicken (without us knowing) and found that our chicken had the perfect 1:1 omega 6/3 ratio, which is basically unheard of even with pastured corn & soy free chicken.

The 5 Egg Samples We Tested.

Here's what we sent to Dr. Van Vliet. All eggs were from late spring, when pastures are growing. We are choosing to keep the other egg brands’ names private. Here’s some info about each sample provided.

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1- Miller’s Bio Farm (Yellow Yolks)
  • Pasture raised in mobile coops moved regularly to fresh pasture
  • Raised on regeneratively tended pastures
  • Corn & soy free

.

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2- Miller’s Bio Farm (Orange Yolks)
  • Pasture raised in mobile coops moved regularly to fresh pasture
  • Raised on regeneratively tended pastures
  • Corn & soy free

.

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3- National Brand Regenerative Eggs

(the most expensive you can buy in the supermarket)

Brand Claims:

  • Pasture raised; freedom to forage outdoors year round; 108 ft2 per hen
  • Regenerative
  • Certified Organic
  • Certified Humane

.

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4- Local Pasture Raised Competitor

(using our OLD corn & soy free feed supplier)

Brand Claims:

  • Pasture raised
  • Free range
  • Regenerative
  • Corn & soy free 

.

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5- National Brand Conventional Eggs

(the cheapest you can buy in the supermarket)

Brand Claims:

  • Excellent source of vitamins D, E, B2, B12, and B5
  • 140mg omega-3
  • 25% less saturated fat
  • Vegetarian fed

.

The 4 Most Important Results.

There were 100+ tests done on the egg samples. That's a lot of data! I wanted to make it a little easier for you to digest. 

So, after reviewing everything and having a conversation with Dr. Van Vliet, these are what I think are the 4 most important findings.

1- Yolk Color Does NOT Matter. The Feed And Farming Practices Are Most Important.

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That's right. As I scrolled through the 100+ tests done on the eggs, the orange and yellow yolks consistently had very similar results.

With the exception of a couple vitamins (which technically make the yellow yolk eggs slightly more nutritious than the orange yolk eggs), the nutritional content of our orange and yellow yolk eggs was exactly the same. Wow.

Most notably, the yellow yolk eggs had significantly higher Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin) compared to the orange yolk eggs. Vitamin B2 is a yellow colored compound, and Dr. Van Vliet thinks this extra pigment might be why those yolks are yellow.

From this point forward, we're calling our eggs "honest yolk" eggs. After all, nearly every egg farmer nowadays adds color to the feed. And it's kinda a sad thing, since the farmer then loses an important indicator for what the hens are foraging for.

For example, the farmer that had the flock producing yellow yolks noticed that the chickens weren't as interested in the pasture. Maybe it was the plants that were growing. Maybe it was the soil. Maybe it was the nature of those birds. He doesn't know for sure. But, with one change at a time, he can slowly figure out how to get the hens to eat more greens. Without the "honest yolk" that wouldn't really be possible.

2- Our Eggs Had The Best Omega 6/3 Ratio At 4:1.

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Our eggs had the best omega 6/3 ratio at 4:1 (and we're already chatting about how to get it even lower!). And, the eggs fed from our old feed supplier had the worst ratio at 12:1.

Me oh my we made the right choice to switch feed suppliers!!! There must be something in the old feed (maybe soy or corn oil like we thought there might be) that's bringing that ratio waaaay up.

I mean, isn't corn & soy free feed supposed to lower that ratio? Corn has a 25:1-60:1 ratio. Soy has a 8:1-9:1 ratio. At the very least, it should be lower than the national conventional brand, whose hens are definitely eating corn and soy.

For a little reference, humans should eat a 1:1-4:1 omega 6/3 ratio for optimal health. But the conventional Western diet typically provides a 20:1 ratio. Having too many omega 6s compared to 3s can lead to a host of issues including inflammation, heart disease, diabetes, obesity, arthritis, asthma, depression, fatigue... the list goes on and on. I mean, this is just one reason Americans are overall in poor health.

3- Our Eggs Had The Lowest PUFA Content.

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When PUFAs are consumed in excess (like the conventional Western diet gives you), it can have some awful health impacts. It can suppress thyroid function, lead to inflammation, cause oxidative stress, and result in a variety of diseases. You can learn a lot more in the PUFA predicament blog post.

This is why a lot of our customers are looking to reduce their PUFA intake. And it's a reason many come to us. Since seed oils are a big contributor to high PUFAs, animal-based eating is a good way to lower PUFAs. And especially when animals are 100% grass-fed and not fed corn and soy like our animals, you can get those numbers even lower.

I was excited to see the test results verify the impacts of our farming practices and feed choices. We have the lowest PUFA eggs amongst the ones we tested.

4- Our Eggs Had The Highest Vitamin Content.

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When you look at the individual results for each vitamin, the results were kinda all over the place. But, when you add up all the numbers, Miller's Bio Farm's eggs came out on top!

This is especially exceptional because the conventional eggs boasted having high amounts of certain vitamins... and they sure did hold true to those promises. This means they are heavily supplementing their birds. It's incredible that we beat them without oversupplementation!

All Of The Data Is Available To You.

We are giving you access to EVERYTHING. There are 100+ test results. After all, you deserve to know everything about what you put into your body. The data is available in two formats:

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A spreadsheet with all of the raw data. It's divided by tabs for fatty acids, minerals, antioxidants, and vitamins (view spreadheet data here).

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A 30-page pdf that summarizes notable data (not all of it). It has lots of nice charts for easy comparisons (view pdf data here).

What do you think about the results? What's the #1 data point you look for when it comes to eggs?

I'd love to hear from you. Comment below - no account required, start typing for the guest option to appear 😊

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