Know Your Egg Codes

A funny thing happened the other night. I was cooking tea and got some eggs we had left over that we’d bought from a local farm shop, and saw this :

Egg Codes Explained

I had no idea eggs were graded, it isn’t the kind of thing I’d notice or talk about, so out of curiosity as I’m a geek for a barcode (I can bore people senseless talking about how a barcode is generated), so I checked my egg codes. To be greeted with this :

Egg Code 3UK10038

Whoa. Let me repeat that. I bought some eggs from a farm shop who say on their website the eggs are freshly laid by their hens, yet they’re classed as caged? I wasn’t sure if the inside of the box could be relied upon and whether it was one being reused (I’ll check when I next go there) but I’m confused. The hens you see on the farm surely can’t generate that many eggs, are they all on show for us customers who aren’t thinking about what we’re buying? Surely not?

This needs further investigation. I contacted them via Facebook but so far no reply.

Do you know how to check your eggs? It’s a universal code, and you can trace how far your eggs have travelled with this link here. The ones I bought were laid in Horsham which isn’t that close to the farm shop I bought them from, so I suspect they’re buying the eggs in. I won’t be buying eggs from them any more, especially with their site claiming they’re freshly laid on the farm. Hmm.

Egg Code Results

After further reading, caged hens are no longer allowed in this country, but that doesn’t explain why these eggs are graded as a 3. The mystery deepens… does anyone have an eggsplanation?

This all unravelled one night on Facebook, and I’m glad I know about egg codes now and how to identify them – hopefully you will now too!

2 Comments

  1. Very interesting. Is there anything we can believe at face value? I guess don’t take anything for granted. Thanks for eggsposing this. Going to check my box when I get home!!!

    Reply

    1. It’s interesting isn’t it? I’m glad I know what I know now, as I can make informed choices, but wish I’d known sooner!

      Reply

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