"eggs" news and stories

Organic Valley, the nation's largest name-brand marketer of organic eggs, is being accused of misleading consumers about the living conditions of its California hens, and for violating federal organic standards, according to a story in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

The bombshell was dropped by the California-based organic watchdog group Cornucopia Institute, which says the hens at the Petaluma Egg Farm were confined in screened "porches" and not allowed to forage naturally in pastures with direct sunlight.

"The federal organic standards clearly state that 'year-round access for all animals to the outdoors' is a requirement," says Mark Kastel, Senior Farm Policy Analyst with the group in a release on their website.

The Cornucopia Institute has filed a legal complaint with the USDA over the matter. The current dust-up may be prompted by the USDA's National Organic Standards Board meeting scheduled for the end of April, where the board is expected to address whether "porches" meet the definition of access to the outdoors.

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Could there be a new Oscars Diet in the works? Seems most of the nominees were on an egg kick to get them through the big night, according to Entertainment Tonight. Before Best Supporting Actress winner Melissa Leo dropped the F-bomb at last night's Academy Awards ceremony, she told ET that she'd chowed down on some "soft-boiled eggs and rye toast."

She wasn't alone. Seems that many stars went with brunch-like meals before the ceremony, which started at 5:30 p.m. Los Angeles time. Leo's fellow Fighter nominee Amy Adams forgot the yolks and went with egg whites and tomato, for "protein and vitamin C," and Wolverine Hugh Jackman noshed on a 12-egg-white omelet (along with steak and chicken). X-Men, we guess, require more protein than the average Joe. But Wolvie, watch the cholesterol.

Not every star was on the "Incredible, Edible Egg" plan. The winner of the "I Eat Like a Teenager, Dammit" category, was True Grit star, 14-year-old Hailee Steinfeld, who told ET she had a burger and pizza. Yep, only someone under 18 wouldn't bat an eye about lumping the two together.

It may not be time to make an omelet a day, but eggs are more nutritious and less cholesterol-laden than they used to be, says a new USDA report. According to a Fox News report, a random sample of eggs from across the U.S. found that "the average large egg has 14 percent less cholesterol than earlier surveys and 64 percent more vitamin D."

The cause, says the report, may be from enriched chicken feed and new breeding techniques.

Good news for egg lovers, but keep in mind that the recommended daily allowance for cholesterol is 300 milligrams, and one egg has 185. Go easy, scrambled fans.

As if we didn't have enough reason to distrust our egg supply (remember the recall in November?), now we know why prices have gone up. And grocery wholesalers are suing.

Word is, four industry trade groups -- United Egg Producers, United Egg Association, United States Egg Marketers and the Missouri Egg Council -- conspired to manipulate supply to increase demand, thereby falsely inflating the price of eggs in the U.S. The prominent egg producers include Land O'Lakes, Cal-Maine Foods, Hillandale Farms and Ohio Fresh Eggs, among 14 others, according to a press release sent out by prosecuting firm Stueve Siegel Hanson, representing Associated Wholesale Grocers, Inc, among six others.

In order to cut down on supply, producers allegedly agreed to kill off hens, which resulted in at least a 40 percent increase in egg prices in 2008, reports the L.A. Times from the following civil complaint filed by Sodexo Inc. The trade groups also increased exports (to further dwindle U.S. supply) and reduced the number of hens per cage, which they marketed as a move towards animal health. That's just wrong.

The plan is said to have gone down as early as 1999, says The Kansas City Star (home of the lawsuit), and since then, egg prices have more than doubled, with a peak of $2.20 per dozen in March 2008 from $1 a dozen in March 2002.