Eggs

Is it ethical to eat eggs at all? 

Globally, over 80% of the world’s hens, that’s over six billion, are housed in cages, mainly battery cages with a floor area less than a sheet of A4 paper. Battery cages were banned in the EU in 2012.

Over 12 billion eggs are eaten in the UK every year, and 86% of these come from the 40 million hens farmed in the UK. The remaining 14% come from other countries, including the US, Spain, and Poland.

For this guide to finding an ethical egg, we devised a bespoke rating looking at what the companies were saying about the welfare of the hens that supply their eggs. Spoiler: some brands scored zero marks for hen welfare. 

Which egg brands and egg alternatives are in the guide?

This guide to eggs and vegan egg replacers includes:

• the UK’s two biggest egg suppliers (Noble Foods and Stonegate Farmers)
• supermarkets that sell own-brand eggs
• some smaller, specialist egg suppliers. 

Noble Foods is the leading supplier of eggs for the major supermarkets’ own-brands and Stonegate supplies Waitrose. 

Noble Foods sells under several different brands like Happy Eggs, Big & Fresh and many more. It's associated with some pretty awful conditions for hens and impact on the environment, which we discuss in the guide.

We’ve also rated four vegan egg replacers in this guide too, so if you're looking to reduce your egg consumption we've got you covered.

Can eggs be cruelty free?

There are animal rights and welfare issues associated with eggs, even ‘good’ ones like free range. 

In this guide, we look at what free range actually means, how ethical it is, and why many campaigners argue that free range is not all that it’s cracked up to be. We also consider the unavoidable issue of male chicks and why the egg industry is far from cruelty free when it comes to killing day old male chicks in their millions. 

Plus, there are environmental issues such as greenhouse gas emissions, water pollution from egg farms, and soya in the feed linked to deforestation in South America.

But the good news is that plant based egg replacers, and using alternative ingredients, are viable options. We compare the price and protein levels of these alternatives so that you can make informed choices of what to buy. 

Is it ethical to keep hens for eggs?

Some people argue that it is not ethical to keep hens for eggs. They believe that animals are not ours to use in any way. Whatever the conditions they are kept in – free range, organic, or in your backyard, hens are still treated as commodities. According to the Vegan Society, "Keeping rescued egg-laying hens in your backyard is one way to help these animals, but taking their eggs for your own consumption is not."

Animal rights group PETA make the point that females’ rights over their own reproductive systems should be respected, no matter the species, asking: “Can you call yourself a feminist if you eat eggs?”

A male chick has no right to life. Whether free range, organic, or caged, male chicks are of no use for egg or meat production and are killed almost immediately after hatching. They are either thrown into an industrial grinder (‘macerator’) while still alive, or gassed, the preferred method in the UK.

See below for more on ‘no-kill’ egg production.

How are hens kept for egg production? 

There are four different systems and standards used in Europe. From worst to best these are: 

• enriched caged
• barn
• free range
• and organic (including biodynamic). 

We cover each of these below in order of welfare levels – from low to high.

How are UK eggs produced?

In 2023, nearly a quarter of the eggs produced in the UK came from cage farms, the worst for animal welfare:

• 23% from cage farms
• 13% from barn farms
• 64% from free range farms (including 4% organic). 

Outside of the UK, this 64% is often viewed as a major success for ethical consumption campaigners. But we discuss below why free range doesn't mean cruelty free.

In the UK, there is a voluntary agreement among most of the major retailers and supermarkets, and therefore the big egg companies who supply them, to convert to a ‘cage-free’ system by 2025. Whilst many have already moved over to free range or organic systems, others might move from cage to barn.

Enriched colony cages

Battery cages for hens were banned in the UK in 2012. But modified battery cages, or ‘enriched’ cages, are little better than the battery cages they replaced in 2012. The Humane League has called them ‘fancy battery cages’.

Each caged hen has only an extra postcard-sized amount of space more than battery hens did. 

Caged hens don’t have access to the outside or even windows to let light in.

These cages are called ‘enriched’ because they include features such as a scratch area, perch, and nest box; but each cage usually houses 60-80 hens and only has 4 nest boxes so there is fighting and bullying by the dominant hens at the top of the pecking order. The scratching area is usually AstroTurf, and hens can’t fly, jump, dustbathe, sunbathe, or even spread their wings. The cages are stacked on top of each other. Beak trimming is routine.

When sold, these eggs are labelled ‘eggs from caged hens’, and the egg box is not allowed to feature ‘farm’ descriptions, farmyard or countryside scenes, nor pictures of hens roaming freely.

Cage free eggs by 2025?

In 2016, all the major retailers in the UK voluntarily committed to stop selling eggs from caged hens by 2025 and go cage free.

Cage free means barn, free range, or organic production. Noble Foods, which currently sells cage eggs (Big & Fresh brand) has also committed to go cage free by 2025.

The transition to cage free was galvanised by a petition from teenager Lucy Gavaghan, which gathered over 180,000 signatures in 2016.

2025 wasn’t an ambitious target: 9 years to replace this low-welfare system. A few supermarkets had already made the transition and already only sold free range shell eggs and eggs used as ingredients in, for example, cakes: M&S since 1997, Waitrose and Co-op 2008, Sainsbury’s and Morrisons 2020.

But for the following companies the commitment is still outstanding. They still sell cage shell eggs and eggs hidden as ingredients in own-brand products like cakes and bakery items:

• Aldi
• ASDA
• Iceland – no commitment for ingredient eggs 
• Lidl
• Morrisons (but shell eggs all free range since 2020)
• Noble Foods
• Tesco

For most of these companies, we couldn’t find out whether ‘by 2025’ meant by 1st Jan 2025 or by the 31st December. Only Lidl stipulated it would be cage free by the end of 2024.

However, even if these commitments are met, there will still be millions of laying hens in cages supplying eggs for small, local independent retailers and manufacturers. The Humane League estimated in 2023 that they would account for 5-10% of egg production. 

The Humane League is calling for a legislative ban on cages, not just a voluntary move.

Barn eggs

Barn eggs have very similar minimum standards as free range hens but, like caged hens, they don’t have access to the outside and live their short lives indoors.

Flock sizes can be huge. Noble Foods is setting up ‘Vencomatic’ multi-tiered barn systems that will house 96,000 hens.

When enriched cages are phased out by the big companies in 2025, it’s likely that the egg industry will move to the barn system for ‘affordable’ eggs. The number of eggs from barn systems almost doubled between 2022 and 2023 bearing out this move.

Free range eggs

Consumers of eggs may feel that because battery cages have been banned for over 12 years and most eggs sold are now free range, buying eggs is less of a moral dilemma. There is a common misconception that free range eggs are cruelty free and involve hens roaming outside, happy and free.

Welfare standards can vary wildly between different free range producers, from small-scale egg farmers with hens in a field, to industrial producers who adhere to the minimum standards because profit is the highest priority, not hen welfare.

Why are free range eggs not the best for animal welfare?

The minimum standards mean that many free range hens are kept in vast, multi-tiered sheds where typically 16,000 or more hens are kept together.

Few free range hens ever see daylight. They must be given some kind of daytime outside access, but in such confined spaces only a few birds are ever able to actually make it outside. 

The minimum free range standard is one ‘pop-hole’ for 600 hens to use.

And outside may not be the rural idyll you imagine – it might be a barren space with little or no vegetation. Because there is no shelter, it makes it even less likely that the hens will venture outside because they won’t feel safe from predators.

Free range might mean cage free, but EU legislation stipulates that as many as nine birds can occupy one square metre of indoor floor space. That’s roughly twice as much space as a battery hen, but still like 14 adults living in a one-room flat.

Diseases and injuries are common in these crowded conditions, and feather loss affects a significant proportion of the flock. 

Beak trimming is standard free range practice. (See further down for what this involves.)

Hens are given ‘enrichments’ to help them express their natural behaviours (which speaks volumes about the unnatural conditions these hens are kept in). Enrichments include things like pecking blocks, plastic toys and, ironically, cardboard egg boxes.

Organic eggs

Organic hens are the gold standard according to Compassion in World Farming (CIWF). They are free range plus. 

The key additional welfare measures are:

• They live in smaller flocks – a maximum of 3,000 birds.
• They have 50% more indoor space than a free range hen.
• Vegetation on the range, and hens must be outdoors for at least a third of their lives.
• Feed must be GM free (genetically modifed free).
• No routine use of antibiotics.
• Beak trimming not a routine practice.

But within organic certifications, Soil Association organic standards go further than other certifications like OF&G (Organic Farmers & Growers):

• More than double the outside space.
• More exits from the hen house to encourage outside access.
• Access to the outdoors from a younger age to encourage a more free range life.
• Vegetation must contain trees, shrubs and long grasses to imitate a hen’s natural environment.
• Beak trimming is prohibited.

Most of the organic egg brands on sale in the UK are certified by OF&G. 

Which egg brands are certified with the Soil Association?

Only five brands in this guide were Soil Association-certified organic eggs: 

• Clarence Court Organic Leghorn Whites
• Daylesford Organic
• Riverford Organic
• Stonegate Estate
• Waitrose Duchy Organic.

Read more about different organic food labels and certification schemes in our separate article.

Biodynamic eggs

All biodynamic farmers practise organic methods of production and share very similar certification standards. Organic and biodynamic also share similar aims and ideals, but biodynamics has metaphysical and spiritual roots that organics does not.

Biodynamic farming means that a holistic approach is used to tend to the land, whereby the farm is seen as a whole living entity that’s self-sustaining. A fundamental principle which a biodynamic farm works towards is a 'closed loop' system that does not need to buy-in feed or fertiliser from external suppliers.

Typically, biodynamic hens are kept in more natural environments: small flocks with cockerels; locally grown feed; and moveable houses so that they have fresh pasture. They are ‘dual-purpose’ breeds, rather than selectively bred laying hens, which means that the male chicks could be raised for meat, rather than killed as chicks.

Because the flocks of hens have cockerels, their natural pecking order is maintained. This means there is no need for beak trimming, and it is not allowed on Demeter-certified farms. 

None of the big retailers or egg producers sell biodynamic eggs. You are more likely to find them in small, local farmers’ markets. Look out for the Demeter certification logo if you want to buy biodynamic eggs.

Which brands sell biodynamic eggs?

Abel & Cole sell a brand of biodynamic eggs, from Nantclyd Farm (which is also be sold in shops in the Aberystwyth area). 

Orchard Eggs is the most famous biodynamic brand but only supplies the south east of England.

Find out more info about biodynamic farming from the Biodynamic Association.

Price comparison for organic eggs

Because organic eggs have the highest welfare conditions for hens, we have compared the cost of different organic egg brands. We have included the cost of two non-organic egg brands for comparison. 

The price tables below show:

Table 1: the cost of 6 large organic eggs, either Soil Association or biodynamic certified brands

Table 2: the cost of 6 large organic eggs certified with the OF&G organic label

Table 3: Price of a 6 eggs from a caged egg brand and the best-selling free range brand

(Key to symbols: mixed means brown and white eggs; SA = Soil Association certified, * price from Sainsbury’s June 2024, ** price from Ocado, *** price from Abel & Cole)

(Key: mixed means brown and white eggs)

And finally for comparison, two non organic brands. 

(Key to symbols: ^ only come in boxes of 10, * price from Sainsbury’s June 2024, ** price from Tesco)

Does it cost more to buy higher welfare organic eggs?

Five of the eight OF&G certified organic eggs are actually cheaper than the best-selling free range brand, Happy Eggs (from Noble Foods).

The cheapest highest welfare Soil Association or biodynamic organic eggs are Orchard Eggs, Riverford, Stonegate Estate, and Waitrose Duchy Organic. These are only 10p more per egg than the best-selling free range brand, Happy Eggs (by Noble Foods).

So if you are already buying free range eggs it may be cheaper, or not much more, to switch to higher welfare organic eggs. 

Paying the real cost for highest welfare eggs may mean buying fewer eggs and looking to alternative forms of protein or replacing eggs in baking with different ingredients.

Beak trimming of hens

Beak trimming is standard practice in all housing systems apart from organic and biodynamic where it is banned (Soil Association organic and biodynamic) or not routinely used (other organic certifications). 

In the UK, beak trimming is carried out using an infra-red beam on day-old chicks to remove the sharp tip of a hen’s beak and, in theory, prevent hens from pecking each other and themselves in unnaturally large flocks and close confinement. 

The tip is sensitive, and any kind of tissue removal is therefore considered undesirable in terms of animal welfare.

According to Poultry World,

“This particular treatment is not only painful, but it also doesn’t address the cause of feather pecking. It doesn’t reduce the feather pecking behaviour either, it merely prevents injuries.”

The British Hen Welfare Trust and DEFRA say they want beak trimming to be banned but not before an alternative management method has been trialled and successfully proven. They say that, currently, beak trimming is the most cost-effective, sustainable solution to preventing injurious pecking and therefore retaining good welfare.  

Alternative methods suggested include breeding less aggressive hens, different feed, lighting, stocking density, tree-covered ranges, and enrichment. 

These are all things that are associated with higher welfare, less intensive and less stressful egg production. 

At the moment, beak trimming seems to be used as a way to facilitate lower welfare, higher profit, intensive farming.

Noble Foods, which uses beak trimming on its non-organic eggs said: “On organic farms where the birds have much more freedom, and can [ground] peck, there's no need [for beak trimming].” 

So surely the answer is for less intensive systems?

Beak trimming has already successfully been banned in some EU countries including Denmark (2013), Finland (1986), Germany (2017), the Netherlands (2019), Norway (1974), and Sweden (1988). The UK was due to ban it by 2011, but it was postponed until at least 2016 when the Conservative farming minister George Eustice rejected it again. It is still not in place, but rumour has it that it might be revived in the next few years.

Hens laying Soil Association organic or biodynamic eggs are never beak trimmed and for other organic labels beak trimming must not be used unless there is a problem within the flock. So, you can already vote with your purse on this issue. All the companies on the score table sell organic eggs except for Iceland.

We looked at the policies of all the companies in this guide to see what they said about beak trimming. The following companies had policies:

• Orchard Eggs and Nantclyd Farm are biodynamic eggs, so it’s not allowed.
• Abel & Cole, Daylesford, Riverford – all eggs are Soil Association organic, so it’s not allowed.
• Waitrose – does not allow beak trimming for its free range eggs.
• Stonegate Farmers – ban by 2028.
• M&S – ban by 2030.
• Noble Foods – ban by 2030.

Culling male chicks

In a modern-day version of Herod’s massacre of all boys under two, every year, 40-45 million day-old male chicks are killed in the UK. 

That's between 110,000 and 123,000 male chicks every single day. 

Male chicks are no use to the egg-laying industry and no use to the meat industry because they are the wrong breed. Only a very few are needed for breeding more laying hens. The rest are gassed or macerated.

It’s standard practice in much of the world, regardless of how eggs are farmed – organic, free range, barn, or cage. When eggs hatch, the chicks are sexed, and the pullets (female chicks) are separated from the cockerels (male chicks). 

Is no-kill egg production available?

It is possible to not cull day-old male chicks. 

The most prominent method is by using an ‘in-ovo’ technology called Seleggt which allows eggs to be tested 9 days after being fertilised and only continue to incubate female eggs which hatch after 21 days. The male eggs are then used to produce high-quality animal feed.

The technology is already in use in France and Germany which have banned the killing of day-old chicks (although French egg producers have gained permission to keep culling 10% of male chicks, those born to white hens – because their gender is harder to determine). Italy will ban killing baby chicks by the end of 2026. The practice may yet be prohibited with a revision of EU legislation on animal welfare set to take place before 2025. 

Piggotts Poultry Breeders, a small family-run company in Hertfordshire, is the only UK firm selling laying chickens sourced from eggs using the egg-sexing technology. 

Piggotts has sold about 6,000 chickens so far to small-scale and hobby chicken farmers. But commercial egg producers, including supermarkets, are blocking the technology. Piggotts said the additional cost incurred from ‘free of chick-culling eggs’ was not as big an issue as retailers fearing reputational damage as consumers will realise all the other eggs are ‘with chick culling’, something they wouldn't have known before.

Compassion in World Farming's (CIWF) and The Biodynamic Federation's preferred option is the breeding of dual-purpose breeds so that male chicks can be reared for meat. That option will also improve the welfare of laying hens whose breeding for high egg production is associated with poor bone health and a high incidence of keel bone (sternum) fractures.

Other technologies to prevent the cull include to genetically modify hens to only lay female eggs and technology which encourages embryos to all develop as females. These were not recommended by CIWF and the Biodynamic Federation.

Founder and Director of Animal Justice Project, Claire Palmer said:

"We advocate for a vegan future to end the killing of animals. In-ovo technology, which prevents the culling of male chicks, is a step in the right direction and we support it. However, significant work remains in educating consumers about the harsh realities faced by laying hens, who are typically sent to slaughter at around 18 months old. As animal rights advocates, we must remain cautious of industry-led initiatives that aim to convince consumers that eating eggs is ethical while obscuring the full truth about the life and death of laying hens."

It begs the question, can you be a right-to-life vegetarian if you eat eggs? 

Whether chicks are culled at a day old or before they hatch, the killing of animals is inherent in the production of your box of eggs. It’s the same argument as with dairy milk – the use of surplus male calves by the meat industry means the two industries are inextricably linked.

What are egg companies' policies on culling day old male chicks?

We looked at the policies of all the companies in this guide to see what they said about male chicks. Most said nothing at all, but a few did:

• Orchard Eggs (biodynamic) currently raises male chicks alongside its hens at the rate of 1 cockerel per 25 hens but is looking to raise all male chicks for meat. 
• Nantclyd Farms (biodynamic) said some male chicks are reared for 20 weeks for meat, but it also buys in chicks from commercial hatcheries which kill day-old male chicks in the usual way.
• M&S said that it would have a no-kill policy by 2030. 
• Stonegate Farmers said it was trialling the efficiency of rearing male chicks.

How do egg brands rate for hen welfare?

For this guide we devised a bespoke rating looking at what the companies were saying about the welfare of the hens that supply their eggs. 

The highest points (100/100) were awarded to companies with no use of eggs (i.e. those who sold egg replacers). 

For a company within the egg sector, the highest points were awarded to companies that only sold organic eggs, especially Soil Association-certified ones and biodynamic eggs which have the highest animal welfare measures. 

Some points were available for companies selling only free range or a mixture of organic, free range, and barn. 

The lowest points were awarded for companies who only sold barn eggs. 

If a company sold any caged eggs, it got no points. The worst brands who scored zero were: Aldi, ASDA, Iceland, Lidl, all Noble Foods brands (Happy Eggs, Big & Fresh etc), and Tesco.

Extra points were given to companies with policies on beak trimming and no-kill male chicks.

The following egg companies scored the most points:

• Orchard Eggs and Nantclyd Farm – only sell biodynamic eggs.
• Riverford and Daylesford – only sell Soil Association organic eggs.
• Abel & Cole – only sells Soil Association organic eggs or biodynamic.
• M&S – only sells free range and organic eggs; has policy to ban beak trimming for non-organic eggs and ban the killing of male chicks by 2030
• Waitrose – only sells free range and Soil Association organic; has already banned beak trimming of non-organic eggs.

Free range farms and RSPCA Assured

In June 2024, the Animal Justice Project launched a petition to get the RSPCA to drop its ‘high welfare’ farm assurance labelling scheme, RSPCA Assured. Activists protested outside the RSCPA HQ on its 200th anniversary urging them to drop the scheme. 

The petition follows investigations and undercover footage from leading free range egg producers where “hens were trapped within overcrowded sheds with their basic needs neglected”. Drones flown over the farms discovered that the 'free range' hens were not let out on any of the four days that they filmed. The RSPCA suspended three of the farms but has since reinstated them.

Companies listed as being supplied by the farms investigated include, ASDA, Happy Egg (Noble Foods), M&S, Stonegate Farms, and Tesco.

The most recent exposé of the scheme was by Animal Rising which revealed illegality, cruelty, and suffering across a total of 45 RSPCA Assured pig, egg, chicken, and salmon farms. They concluded that the problem was systemic, rather than just an issue with individual farms, because most of the suffering and distress they found was permitted by the scheme’s regulations. Animal Rising describes the scheme as “a marketing arm of the intensive animal agriculture industry.”

But the RSPCA is still claiming that the vast majority continue to meet certified standards, and is refusing to suspend or scrap the scheme (which contributes an estimated £4m a year to its bottom line). 

In June, Animal Rising stuck posters to the new portrait of the King who is a patron of the RSPCA.

The RSPCA Assured scheme is administered by RSPCA Assured Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of the RSPCA and a charity in its own right which operates independently. It inspects organic, free range, and barn systems, but not caged. Its standards are above the UK legal minimum including things like:

• Two enrichments per 1000 birds instead of none.
• Hens inspected three times day instead of one.
• More space allowance per hen (1111cm2 instead of 750cm2).

After seeing the footage, RSPCA President, Chris Packham called the scheme “utterly indefensible”. “There is nothing other to do at this point but to suspend those schemes. They’re not working.” 

Veterinary Professor of Animal Welfare Andrew Knight said: 

“For 200 years, the RSPCA has been a champion for animals, and countless animals have benefited from its work. However, its mission is undermined by its RSPCA Assured food product labelling scheme. Numerous videos of conditions inside farms accredited by this scheme have revealed that animals produced in them frequently suffer from poor welfare. Small improvements compared to non-accredited farms are not enough. Instead, the RSPCA should condemn farming systems which violate animal welfare, and become the champion for all animals – as it was intended to be.” 

Animal Justice Project campaigner Sean Barrs explains the importance of this campaign: 

“The RSPCA helps dogs and cats, so why are they assuring the slaughter of pigs and chickens? As society progresses, so should our views on how we treat other sentient creatures.”  

In September 2024 the RSPCA announced that it was going to review RSPCA Assured, it's ‘high welfare’ farm assurance labelling scheme. We will be looking out for its review, along with the coalition of 60 campaign groups who are calling for the scheme to be scrapped.

Who sells what type of eggs?

Some retailers sell a range of different types of eggs from different production methods. Most large retailers sell organic eggs. 

The table below shows which companies including supermarkets sell what type of eggs.

Aldi, Asda, Lidl, Noble Foods (Big & Fresh brand), Tesco, and Iceland still sold cage eggs.

Only Noble Foods, Tesco, and Lidl currently sold barn eggs but that’s likely to increase when others stop selling cage eggs in 2025.

Iceland is the only supermarket to not sell organic own-brand eggs.

Abel & Cole, Daylesford, Riverford, Stonegate Farmers, and Waitrose sold eggs with one of the highest welfare standards (Soil Association certified organic).

The environmental impact of egg production

There are several environmental issues associated with eggs, including their carbon footprint, pollution, and deforestation. 

Carbon footprint of eggs

Raising animals for meat, eggs, and milk is said to generate 14.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions. This is higher than all the greenhouse gas emissions from transportation combined.

Whilst a large proportion of emissions are from meat and dairy production and they are the priorities for reduction, reducing consumption of eggs could also have a role to play.

As you can see from the table below, eggs have at least double the carbon impact of the non-animal forms of protein. As with nearly all foods, the impact comes from the farming of eggs rather than packaging and transport.

According to Mike Berners-Lee and ‘How bad are bananas?’, an egg has the same carbon footprint of about three bananas, before you cook it. Nitrous oxide from manure and carbon dioxide from rearing the hens and growing their feed are the main impacts.

Imported soya feed accounts for over 70-80% of the carbon emissions on egg farms. This figure includes a contribution from deforestation, but there’s also the processing and transportation elements.

Unfortunately, organic eggs come out 25% worse than battery farms for carbon largely because the organic hens eat more feed – more hens are needed to produce the same amount of eggs, they have longer rearing times and they’re more active. One solution to this might be to buy fewer eggs but make them all organic.

Source: Poore & Nemecek (2018) Science journal 

What do egg companies say about their carbon footprint?

We expected companies to discuss the carbon impact of their eggs when we rated them for carbon management and reporting. Three companies did so by saying that they sold some carbon-neutral eggs. 

Two of them – Respectful eggs from Stonegate Farmers and Morrisons’ ‘Better for our Planet’ eggs – said they had achieved 50% and 60% carbon reductions respectively for these two brands mainly by replacing soya feed with local feed, using renewable power, and carbon offsetting.

Morrisons’ soya feed was replaced with insects that were fed on food waste. Unfortunately, these eggs are only available in 115 stores in the south of England.

The Purely Organic brand from Noble Foods has been certified as carbon neutral by the Carbon Trust but the carbon footprint is currently only offset by carbon credits. Noble Foods had not yet tackled the footprint of its feed.

Ethical Consumer does not consider carbon offsetting a meaningful way of reducing emissions, but the other steps, especially the removal of soya feed by Stonegate and Morrisons do seem more significant, albeit that they only apply to a fraction of the eggs that they sell. 

River pollution from egg farms

Phosphate-rich run-off from chicken manure into waterways and a lack of water management is an issue in the egg industry. The run-off results in an increase in algal blooms, which effectively suffocate plants and fish as they take oxygen from the water.

Campaigners generally want a ban on new intensive livestock farms in river catchments where nutrient loads are already exceeded or where rivers are in a bad condition.

River Wye pollution

Environmental campaigning organisation River Action has focused its campaign on the 134-mile-long River Wye. The Wye catchment area has 500 farms with a total of 1,420 mainly free range poultry sheds, containing over 44 million birds. The issue is the positioning of the sheds close to the river and its tributaries. 60% of the River Wye catchment is failing to meet pollution targets.

River Action wants:

• a ban on new intensive egg farms
• removal of manure from the Wye catchment area rather than it being spread locally
• free range egg producers to have a plan for nutrient run-off from the outdoor ranges, and 
• a significant reduction in the number of birds kept. 

In 2023, River Action wrote to Noble Foods, as the largest egg producers in the area, to ask what plans it has to remove chicken manure from the Wye catchment and to prevent nutrient run-off from its open ranges. 

Noble said it is collaborating with the Wye and Usk Foundation to assess farms and put mitigation measures in place to reduce the impact of farming on water. Some measures had been taken including constructing wetlands, concreting manure handling areas, improving drainage, and increasing tree planting. 

In its 2023 Annual Report, Stonegate Farmers said it was researching how to reduce phosphorous in manure by changing the hens' dietary protein.

In February 2024, River Action took the Environment Agency to court arguing that they had not enforced regulations to protect the River Wye from pollution. The judge ruled that the EA had improved its enforcement, but farming practices would have to change. By bringing the court case, River Action claimed that the EA was forced to make the improvements.

Stink or swim?

Meanwhile an April 2024 report, Stink or Swim, from Friends of the Earth and Sustain, highlighted how ten factory farming companies produced more toxic excrement than the UK’s ten largest cities.

Noble Foods was one of the ten with an estimated 7.2 million laying hens producing about 28 tonnes of excrement an hour. The report found that Noble’s policy on this matter lacked detail with no timelines or targets and no publicly available strategy for managing run-off risks outside of the river Wye catchment area.

Vegan egg replacers

Egg replacers are a simple way to avoid the animal rights and environmental issues associated with eggs. You literally just swap each egg for a quantity of the egg replacer. 

The only egg varieties that they don’t replace are boiled, poached or fried eggs. But there are recipes for making vegan versions of these eggs using other ingredients like tofu, black salt, Quorn, mustard, and nutritional yeast. 

We have rated four brands of ready-made egg replacers which can be bought in supermarkets and health food shops. They are all vegan.

• Oggs Aquafaba – for biscuits, cakes, ice cream, mayo, dressings, brownies, doughnuts, buns, muffins, meringues. Made from 100% liquid chick pea extract.
• Oggs Liquid Whole Egg Alternative – for cooking (scrambles, omelettes, quiche, carbonara, Yorkshire puddings, biscuits, cakes). Made from chick peas. 
• Orgran Vegan Easy Egg – for cooking (scrambled eggs, omelette, frittata, quiche). Made from chick pea flour.
• Orgran No Egg Egg Replacer – for baking (cakes, pancakes, meringues). Made from potato and tapioca starch.
• Free & Easy egg replacer – for baking (e.g. cakes, meringues, pancakes). Made from potato and tapioca flour.
• Crackd liquid no egg – for every egg situation except meringues. Made from pea protein.

Some of these products may be classed as processed or ultra-processed foods especially the two liquid egg products – Oggs whole egg and Crackd. Oggs aquafaba is the least processed product.

But you don’t need to buy a ready-made egg replacer. You can make them yourself from individual ingredients such as bicarbonate of soda and vinegar to get a rise in cakes, tofu to make scramble, or flaxseeds or chia seeds and water bind a cake. You can also just buy a bag of gram (chick pea) flour or use the liquid from a tin of chick peas as aquafaba.

And of course, lots of food including baking doesn’t require eggs at all, particularly if you use fruit or veg to bind a cake (think mashed banana or carrot). These options often cut down on packaging compared to ready-made and other egg replacers.

For more suggestions of how to cook without eggs go to Viva!'s guide to egg alternatives, or Peta's guide to vegan alternatives.

Price comparison of eggs and vegan egg replacer

How do vegan egg replacers compare price-wise with eggs? 

We have compared the cheapest highest-welfare standard egg (Waitrose Duchy Organic) vs ready-made vegan egg replacers.

(Key: Prices from *ASDA, ** Sainsbury’s, +Tesco, ^ Ocado)

Some of the vegan egg replacers are comparable in price to Happy Egg (Noble Foods) free range eggs, and some (Orgran and Free & Easy) are even cheaper than ‘value’ price low-welfare eggs (Big & Fresh cage eggs by Noble Foods).

And most vegan egg replacers are actually cheaper than high-welfare eggs.

So even if you swapped out eggs for alternatives in some baking or dishes, you could be saving money and chicks and the environment. 

Who owns Oggs and Crackd egg replacer brands?

Crackd is owned by Noble Foods, the worst scoring egg brand in this guide. It failed to score even 5 points out of 100.

Alternative Foods London is a small company that makes Oggs egg replacers and vegan cakes, all certified by the Vegan Society. It is also B Corp certified and Living Wage certified. In 2022, Flora owner, Upfield, bought 18% of Oggs as part of its transition away from dairy.

Alternative proteins to eggs

An egg has on average 6 g of protein, but one serving of the following non-animal proteins all have the same amount or more:

• chick pea flour-based egg replacer (like Orgran)
• 3 tablespoons (120 g) of baked beans, chick peas or lentils
• 5 tbsp (185 g) of quinoa
• 100 g of tofu 
• a handful (30 g) of peanuts.

In terms of price comparison with an egg, the cost of:

• Orgran vegan chick pea-based replacer for one egg is 27p
• 120 g Sainsbury’s organic baked beans is 30p
• 120 g Sainsbury’s organic red lentils 50p
• 30 g of Sainsbury’s salted peanuts is 12p.

So, alternative proteins, even organic ones, are comparable to cage, free range, or organic eggs, on price and protein. 

Company ethos rating

In our ratings we award points to companies who are doing things differently, in positive ways, via our company ethos category. This might be the company being fully organic, or employee owned, or a registered B Corp for example.

Of the egg brands in this guide, the highest points for company ethos were given to: 

• Nantclyd Farm and Orchard Eggs for being 100% biodynamic farms, owned and run by small families.
• Riverford for being 100% organic, employee owned, B Corp, Living Wage certified. 
• Oggs as a vegan company, B Corp, Living Wage certified, and profit share scheme for workers.
• Daylesford for being 100% organic and a B Corp.
• Co-operative Group for being a consumer co-op.
• John Lewis (Waitrose) for being an employee-owned company. 
• Orgran for being 100% vegan company. 

Who owns Daylesford Organic? 

Bamford Collections Ltd owns Daylesford Organic, which on the face of it appears to be a small company doing a lot of the right things – not only is it organic but it is also working to restore wetland and creating an agroforestry project on its farmland.

However, Bamford Collections is owned by Lady Carole Bamford, who is married to billionaire Lord Anthony Bamford, director of family business Bamford Collections and JCB.

JCB has received heavy criticisms for human rights due diligence failures which allowed its machinery to be used to demolish homes in occupied Palestine. 

Because there is no evidence of a formal link to the wider JCB group, Daylesford still scores well on our tables.  

Separately, the Bamfords have been long-time donors to the Tory party, and both Lord and Lady Bamford have made headlines for helping to bankroll Boris Johnson’s post-PM lifestyle.

What is the most eco friendly packaging for eggs?

Avoid plastic or polystyrene egg trays. These are usually used for ‘value’ eggs from caged birds. Plus plastic is detrimental to the environment. 

Get your eggs from a shop or local farm which reuses your egg boxes.

Cardboard egg boxes can be recycled with paper and card in your household recycling, or you could add them to your compost or food waste bin.