Wake up! Real life is different to movies and novels. Urbanites have the idea that producing organic food, GMO-free, pesticides-free, preservatives-free, cage-free and a long whatever-free list is the best. But nothing is farther from reality than this.
An article just published in the Spanish newspaper El País entitled “Four brands of eggs that stand out in flavor” came to my attention. First, in the subhead the author states that the secret is “to treat and feed well the hens that lay the eggs” (sic). The “other” hens must be real heroes and have superpowers to be able to produce “under mistreatment and malnourishment.”
Then, the article goes on explaining the special characteristics of each Spanish brand that provides the best flavor attribute. I must emphasize that all their clients are exclusive, deluxe and spent lots of money on food. Nothing is farther from reality. I will go on and mention a few examples, without specifying the brand:
- Support from renowned chefs – this only helps to increase prices, not a good idea nowadays. How do they know that X or Y eggs taste better? Do they carry sensory panels?
- Eggs from older hens taste better – I have no idea how old these hens are, but I don’t even want to think how inefficient they are in terms of feed conversion. This goes totally against sustainability.
- Hens are fed with “special and natural feeds,” formulated with corn, soybeans or barley – oh my! It’s good to know that corn, soybeans and barley are special, natural feed ingredients. I wonder what ingredients the “other” hens are fed with.
- Putting quality before profitability – yes, of course, but will they be putting in money from their own pocket?
- The intention is to produce a good product like the one made by our ancestors – who said that things were better before? This is the habit of clinging to the past.
- The secret ingredient is paprika or Marigold flowers (imported from Mexico) – secret ingredients? Do they know paprika and Marigold flowers are no secret for pigmenting egg yolks everywhere in the world?
- Good quality eggs are those that are clean, with no cracks, with thick albumen and centered yolk – these are not quality attributes of eggs produced in cage-free, free-range environments. This is important under any production system.
But the cherry on top was that one of the egg brands was famous because the Spanish emeritus king eats them – really?
Here's the importance of teaching journalists who write for the general public what our industry is like.
What do you think?
