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It used to be true that, if your egg yolks were darker in color, then the better the egg's nutrition. Conscious consumers of the past would look for that deep orange yolk and stray away from lighter yellow yolks. It's sad, but this simply isn't the case anymore.
These truly pastured eggs offered more nutrition (more vitamins, omega-3s, antioxidants, etc) because the birds were naturally healthier. They had access to fresh air and exercise. They didn't need drugs to survive. They ate a natural diet. They were allowed to be... well... chickens. The health of the bird has a direct impact on the nutrition of the egg.
On the flip side, birds that lived indoors on mega factory-like "farms" ate a diet of mainly wheat, corn, soy. These foods are low in carotenoids, and therefore indoor chickens produced lighter colored yolks. Since they weren't as naturally healthy, the eggs were less nutritious.
It's sad but true. Big ag has caught onto consumer demand for "organic" and "natural" foods. They are altering food and putting a "green sheen" on the visual appearance and the labels to capitalize on these trends.
Here are some things that might be added:
This is why yolk color used to be a great indicator of egg quality and nutrition, but not anymore. You cannot trust cheap store-bought eggs with orange yolks.
The only way to truly know the quality of your eggs is to know your farmer.
And that means that the yolk color will vary with the seasons, the weather, the age of the flock, etc. Varying eggs are a sign that you're getting real deal, pasture raised, naturally healthy eggs! Personally, if my food doesn't have slight variation from time to time, then I question how natural it really is.
But wait, is there a health difference between pastured yellow and orange yolk eggs?
I was curious about the same thing. So, I sent two cartons of our eggs, one with orange yolks and one with yellow yolks (along with some other samples that weren't ours for comparison), to a lab for nutritional testing.
For 95% of the 100+ tests done, the results were exactly the same. They look like this:
The difference happened with vitamins, and the results say that the yellow yolk eggs were more nutritious than orange yolk eggs. Such a surprise!
Dr. Van Vliet, the scientist who did the testing, noted that Vitamin B2 (riboflavin) was a lot higher in the yellow yolk eggs. Riboflavin is a yellow colored compound, and this is what's likely making the yellow yolks yellow. So cool!
The pastures our laying hens are in are diverse. There's a wide variety of plants. And, different sections of each pasture might have higher or lower concentrations of different things.
Plus, the hens are choosing what to forage for (we can't force it). They might pick different plants based on what they're in the mood for, the growth stage of the plants, the time of the year, etc.
And then there's winter, when there's nothing to forage for and our hens spend most of their time indoors.
What the hens eat has a direct affect on the yolk color. Here are just a few examples:
Dandelion and plantain are both high in Vitamin B2, so we're thinking that the hens with the yellow yolks were eating lots of those plants.
We love having the yolk color indicator of what the hens are eating. It helps us constantly get better at farming and producing the best food for you!
Birds foraging on well maintained pasture AND eating a quality feed with thoughtful ingredients, ratios, and preparation make the most nutritious eggs.
Our hens are fed GMO-free, corn-free, and soy-free feed. The feed contains a specially formulated blend of of oats, rolled wheat, peas, alfalfa hay leaves, barley, fishmeal, sesame meal, raw liquid goat whey, vitamins, minerals, and probiotics.
The way the feed is mixed ferments it (and adds probiotics, too). It's like it's pre-digested, making all the nutrition bioavailable for our hens. And that's why our eggs had such great nutritional results. That includes a 4:1 omega 6/3 ratio and low PUFAs!
And the feed suppliers aren't done yet. Just like our farmers, they're constantly improving.
I'd love to hear from you. Comment below or contact us.
*Originally posted on 9/22/23. Updated on 1/14/25.
Did you know that, globally, pork is the #1 meat? According to the UN, 10% more pork is eaten compared to poultry worldwide. And, 50% more pork is eaten compared to beef worldwide. Wow!
But, for some reason, this isn't the case in the US. According to the USDA, pork ranks #3 when it comes to meat. Americans eat 30% less pork compared to poultry and 15% less compared to beef.
Why is this? Well, pork has gotten a pretty bad rep in the US. Of course there are some religions that prohibit pork, but that's not the leading factor.
The low fat craze started in the 1970s and fizzled out in the 1990s. It came from the belief that (1) fat makes us fat; and (2) that too much saturated fat = high cholesterol = bad things like heart disease and cholesterol. These myths have been debunked. Read more in fats and health blog post.
The bottom line is that not all fats are created equal. Natural animal fats from happy, healthy animals are good. It's those highly processed hydrogenated saturated fats that are bad. In other words, eat all the pork fat!
People still seem to think they can get sick from pork. There's fear of parasites (like the roundworm Trichinella spiralis that can cause trichinosis) or bacteria or other things.
The reality is that getting sick from pork is really rare nowadays. If you cook pork properly, you don't need to worry about disease. Muscle meat (like chops or tenderloin) should be cooked to 145F. Ground meat and organs should be cooked to 160F.
This only relates to processed pork like hot dogs and bacon and ham. There's truth to this one. Nitrates and nitrites, commonly used in curing conventional pork, have been shown to cause cancer and other health issues. And stabilizers, artificial colors, preservatives, and other additives have been linked to negative health outcomes, too.
But, this isn't the case for all pork. How meat it's processed matters a lot. At Miller's, we don't put any of that yucky junk in our meat, even the salami and bacon and sausages (more on that below).
The Weston A. Price Foundation did a bunch of research on this. It's true that plain pork can cause blood clotting and inflammation. However, properly preparing pork (by marinating it in vinegar or naturally curing it) or by eating pork with fermented veggies like sauerkraut removes these negative effects. Read more about pork and your blood in this blog post.
I think this one mainly comes from the fact that pigs roll around in mud. They do this to protect their nearly hairless bodies. It's like natural sunscreen. It doesn't mean the meat is dirty at all.
It may also come from the fact that pigs are often treated as garbage disposals. They will literally eat anything. And that includes kitchen scraps, meat processing scraps, curdled milk, and more.
But again, not all pork is created equal. When you source from trusted farms, you can actually know that the pigs are eating clean food and are rolling around in chemical-free mud.
This one came from Nailea on the farm. At some point, she watched a video about how some pigs are born without buttholes or have odd deformities or become cancerous. Yet, despite their weirdness, they're still raised for meat. I don't know how true this is for conventional pigs. But, it's certainly not true for our pigs. They are intact and happy and healthy. And our processor would never give us meat that's weird or cancerous.
I'm here to inform you that, when produced naturally and properly, pork is pretty awesome.
It's high in protein, zinc, iron, and B vitamins (particularly the "anti-stress" vitamin B1 - read more about thiamine and pork in this blog post). It's packed with quality, healthy saturated fats. And it's the most affordable meat and can be produced year round.
This is why people around the world love pork. I think you should love pork, too!
Here are 6 quick reasons it stands above the rest:
Our pigs get plenty of exercise and forage for countless nuts and grubs and roots. This diverse diet gives our pork some extra flavor. And you can be assured that the environment is free of chemicals and is a happy place for our pigs to live.
This means low PUFA and no chance of GMOs. We haven't tested our pork like we did for our chicken and eggs. But, if we did, I assume we'd get similar results with our pork having balanced omegas and packed with vitamins and minerals.
Our pigs are Berkshire, Duroc, Red Waddle, and Black crosses. These heritage breeds are known for their intensity of flavor, juiciness, marbling, and tenderness. It's nothing like the bland, dry pork you often get at the grocery store.
We reduce toxins and anything unnatural as much as possible. Our bacon is cured simply with Celtic sea salt (in a store it would have "uncured" on the label). Our sausages have clean ingredients, no weird thickeners or preservatives. Our salami is cured naturally with celery juice powder.
No harsh chemicals like bleach or citric and lactic acids touch our pork. We are so fortunate to have a naturally minded processor!
We don't vaccinate. We don't give antibiotics or hormones or anything like that. Through a natural diet and lifestyle, our pigs stay naturally healthy.
I'd love to hear from you. Comment below - no account required (start typing for the guest option to appear). 😊
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A2/A2 Dairy
Meat & Seafood
