Photo: Health Freedom Alliance illustration
You can have “commercially produced” eggs or you can have organic, but any egg labelled as “commercial organic” is pure bunk! “Commercially produced” (or “industrial-scale”) organic eggs come from chickens which are packed into tight spaces with “more fowl than foot room.” Healthly chickens, these are not!
Even though so-called “commercial organic” chickens are not fed antibiotics, they all are confined in a breeding ground for disease. That’s why the “farmers” who raise “commercial organic” chickens and procure the eggs usually wear “space-age, bacteria protecting, white suits when handling them.”
AND, get this! “Due to these unclean conditions, the USDA has mandated that all organic eggs be bathed in cleaning agents and chlorine. And while many companies tout their cleansers to be organic, it is still bleach – not meant to be consumed nor used on consumables!” [Source: Health Freedom Alliance]
[For more about what’s in organic (versus industrial or commercial) eggs, see “What’s REALLY in Your Eggs?”] Be sure to check out “Comments” (link below) for feedback from TWO separate organic egg producers.
Actually, the above statement “Due to these unclean conditions, the USDA has mandated that all organic eggs be bathed in cleaning agents and chlorine.” is misleading. Chlorine sanitizing is NEVER ALLOWED on shell eggs that are washed, graded, cartoned and sold as CERTIFIED ORGANIC in the U.S. However, in the world of liquid egg processing, the FSIS/USDA (which oversees every liquid egg processing plant in the U.S.) mandates those same eggs would require a chlorine solution be sprayed over the shells of the eggs after they come out of the washers, before cracking.
By the way, ALL organic certified eggs must be washed in organic approved soaps in these washers, whether it is an egg breaking plant or a shell egg cartoning plant. At Farmers Organic Foods, we believe that an organic sanitizer such as hydrogen peroxide is a much more effective sanitizer than chlorine and we are working to change that FSIS/USDA perspective. It takes alot of time and testing (which costs the private company alot of money), but in the end, understand that the USDA is a huge organization, understaffed, underfunded and handcuffed in beaurocracy. It will take time to change it, we are dedicated to make that change eventually. But it will take patience, and time.
Thanks for this information. The USDA might well be “understaffed, underfunded and handcuffed in beaurocracy. But, I suspect, having to battle multinationals ONLY interested in profit might also be on the USDA’s plate. Patience, for sure…and maybe “fingers crossed”?
“Chlorine sanitizing is NEVER ALLOWED on shell eggs that are washed, graded, cartoned and sold as CERTIFIED ORGANIC in the U.S.”
I don’t think that is correct. As far as I know, the NOP regulations allow chlorine sanitizing of livestock drinking water, eggs, and produce as long as the rinse water has less than 4 ppm residual chlorine, the same as the EPA regulations for chlorinating municipal water supplies. If a producer is on a chlorine-sanitized municipal water supply are they to be prohibited from organic production unless they find another non-chlorinated water source?
“ALL organic certified eggs must be washed in organic approved soaps in these washers, whether it is an egg breaking plant or a shell egg cartoning plant.”
Whether eggs must be washed or sanitized is up to the food safety authority in question. It may be up to the USDA, it may be up to an individual state depending upon the extent of a producer’s sales. If sanitizers or detergents are prescribed by the food safety authority having jurisdiction then the method used must follow the regulations of the NOP.
In addition to retail sale of eggs that are processed at a contracted facility, I sell thousands of dozens of eggs per year direct to consumers that visit my farm. State regulations here only require shells to be visibly clean, not washed or sanitized.
I managed the Organic Valley Egg Program for 8 years and had many hours working with our contracted egg-packing plants, all of whom were certified organic. There may be a particular certifier out there that allows chlorine rinse on shell eggs going into cartons, but PCO (Pennsylvania Certified Organic), MOSA (Midwest Organic Services), OTCO (Oregon Tilth) and the others that I came in contact with all said no chlorine on the eggs. Now, they had NO PROBLEM with chlorine being used to sanitize the equipment, just not on the egg shells. Hope that helps?
Mark, upon reviewing the NOP regulations, I find that the interpretation that you cited seems to be the most correct, that chlorine is only to be used on food contact surfaces with an exception made for produce washed with treated water supplies that have less than a 4 ppm chlorine residual.
I do find many references to others that interpret that rule much as I had (and were probably the sources of my long held belief), that chlorine is allowed in the process as long as it used at levels that do the job while providing the least residual. One reference said that the NOP had issued a memorandum on the topic, but I haven’t come up with it yet…
Mark, I did find NOP clarification on use of chlorine materials dated July 2011. As i read through it was much as you stated… until towards the end of document it stated that chlorine materials are allowed to sanitize eggs at levels permitted by the FDA and EPA as long as that is followed by a rinse with water at less than the max residual level (4 ppm).
http://www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/getfile?dDocName=STELPRDC5090760
I guess the language has changed many times over the years which has borne many interpretations.
I hope all is going well with you. My wife and I sat in a few egg pool meetings with you as we had just come on as OV producers not too long before you left.
“Avoid buying any eggs labelled as “commercial organic”! ”
Are any eggs actually labeled that way?
I am an organic egg producer. My family and I keep 2500 organically raised hens for egg production. It is a very small-scale, mom and pop operation that provides an income for our family. Our eggs are marketed in retail stores.
All farms are commercial enterprises. They are businesses like any other, whether they are large or small, corporate owned or family owned.
Perhaps the term you are searching for is “industrial-scale organics”? Even the folks selling at the farmers market do so on a “commercial” basis. (They are engaging in commerce).
Good points. Thank you for this! This is reassuring word distinctions for Canadian organic shoppers. Evidently US labelling is different from that in Canada, at least according to the Health Freedom Alliance research (which is what’s quoted in this entry). Likely most of us in Canada who shop organic look for “local” organic producers even in grocery stores (and NOT just at farmers’ markets).