Free-range rap

Analyzing an egg study

By Culinate staff

July 15, 2010

The Sustainable Food blog at Change.org recently assessed a new study concluding that free-range eggs are less healthy than conventional eggs. Why? The free-range eggs in the study sample had more environmental toxins than the regular joes.

But, as blogger Sarah Parsons noted, the Taiwanese study didn’t factor in the other health benefits of free-range eggs, nor the environmental degradation caused by conventional chicken farming. She also pointed out some inherent quibbles with the study itself:

This study was quite small (scientists compared six free-range eggs to 12 regular eggs) and locally specific: Taiwan is an industrialized country with lots of incinerators. The fact that eggs contained dioxins isn’t so surprising given how dirty the nation’s air is.

So don’t toss those free-range eggs just yet.