Specialty Foods Sunday # 2

I know I had planned on every Sunday posting about a "specialty food", but so far, we are at #2.  I guess the holiday season can get in the way of plans!  Anyway, today the "specialty food" I am highlighting is this:

The variety I have is the Cage-Free brown, because that is what my store carries (they also have Organic).  Here is what they look like cooked:

See, looks like regular eggs!  Those were for my daughter, because she LOVES "eggies" as she says.  And with these, I don't feel guilty giving her more than the recommended "3 yolks per week".


The "hens" are fed a diet of "healthy" grains, canola oil, and supplemented with rice bran, alfalfa, sea kelp, and Vitamin E ("all-natural and all-vegetarian") without animal products, recycled, or processed food, & certified by the AVA (American Vegetarian Association). Their food is also free of hormones, antibiotics, & steroids.  To be "cage-free", the hens are free to roam (pretty self-explainatory, huh?)

What Makes Their Eggs Healthy? 
Because of the "special diet" the hens are fed, the nutritional quality of the eggs can be manipulated.  Here is what they boast (as compared to regular eggs):

• 10x more Vitamin E
• 115 mg Omega 3 fatty acids (from canola oil and flax seed in feed) 
• 25% less saturated fat
• 200 mcg Lutein (helps with eye health)
• 175 mg cholesterol per egg vs. 215 mg in the standard egg (American Heart Association or AHA recommends less than 300mg per day of cholesterol- more info here)      
•  4x more Vitamin D (20% DRI for Vit D)
• 75% more Vitamin B12
• 50% more Vitamin A 
• 15% more Riboflavin 
• 10% DRI of folic acid  
• Gluten-Free

* Yearly testing confirms consistency

Potential Allergen Alert

• Egg (duh!)
• Soy (hens are fed soybean meal)
• Rice (rice bran is component of feed)

Going Green?

• The plastic egg carton is 100% recyclable & made entirely from 100% recycled materials (recycled soda bottles).
• The manufacturer grinds its plastic waste in its own plant and sells it back to the plastic supplier, so that it can be re-melted into sheets of PET plastic.  PET can be re-manufactured to produce polyester fiber which is used in carpets, insulating fleece for clothing and containers. 
• All egg case shipping cartons  are Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) certified.  For more information on the Sustainable Forestry Initiative program click here.

Still Not Convinced to Buy Them?

• Egg-Land's Best is "Pink" (Read the press release here about their partnership with Susan G. Komen)

You can visit their website here: Egg-Land's Best.  It has lots of nutritional info about their products, and even recipes.  


*Note: I have not received any compensation for endorsing these products, I just want to help those following special diets become aware of and make informed decisions for the many specialty & functional foods on the market today.