Eggs

The biggest trend in egg retailing is the growing demand for free range eggs. Eggs from caged hens are falling out of favour with consumers and retailers, mainly for ethical reasons, so it's no surprise that all major supermarket chains will stop selling cage eggs from 2024.

In the meantime, cage eggs are still available and one of the choices open to you while you're shopping. Cage eggs, due to the volume in which they're produced and relatively low costs of production, are still the cheapest you can buy but many shoppers are happy to pay more to purchase eggs that are laid in more ethical ways. The best way to know that eggs have been laid by well-treated hens is to look for the SPCA Blue Tick certification logo on the packaging. 

Some free range producers even stamp their eggs with a code so you can track the eggs back to the farm they came from. In some cases, you can even see the pastures where the hens roam free. While you look closely for such a stamp, you needn’t look too closely at the colour of the shell. The notion that brown eggs are healthier than white eggs is just a myth, so it's perfectly ok to buy white-shelled eggs. 

When it comes to size, the guide is as follows: Size 6 eggs must weigh at least 53 grams. Size 7 will weigh a minimum of 62 grams and Size 8 will come in at 68 grams. A best-before date for eggs is compulsory, as mentioned above. Eggs refrigerated after purchase, at 4C or below, can be safely used up to the best-before date, while after this date they are recommended for use in baking.