Yolk colour varies with the seasons

It’s a pity that chefs aren’t taught about seasonality in food when they go through their training. Even celebrity chefs on the myriad TV cooking shows mislead viewers and display great ignorance about the way seasons can affect food. Eggs are a great example. They rabbit on about being able to tell that eggs are free range because they always have a vibrant yolk colour. Well that simply isn’t true, With genuine free range hens,yolk colour will always vary, depending on how much green feed there is in the pasture. If the yolk colour is always a bright golden/orange, the hens are being fed colouring additives and the eggs may well be from cages or barns. So always look for variations in yolk colour. A couple of the additives are canthaxanthin and astaxanthin. For more about colouring additives and allergies, check out our website.

Allergic reactions may be caused by colouring additives rather than eggs

All major egg producers and many small ones - even those which claim to be free range and organic - use colouring additives in the feed they give their hens. Their use is completely unnecessary in a free range flock, as hens running on quality pasture and at low stocking densities will obtain enough carotenoids from the green feed in the paddock to maintain good yolk colour. The colour will vary – depending on the time of year and what each hen has been eating – but many egg producers want to con consumers by using additives to provide consistent, bright yolk colour. Many of those additives are synthetic - adding to the chemical cocktail mix in food. But even those which are claimed to be 'natural' are manufactured in factories – often in China. What the manufacturers mean by using the word 'natural' is that the additives may be derived from natural products but are processed and concentrated into a powder or liquid. Three of the most widely used egg yolk pigmenters are: Canthaxanin or Canthaxanthin which appears to be an unsafe additive. It can cause diarrhoea, nausea, stomach cramps, dry and itchy skin, hives, orange or red body secretions, and other side effects. Do not use canthaxanthin if you experience breathing problems; tightness in the chest; swelling of the mouth, tongue or throat; a skin rash or hives; you are pregnant or breast-feeding or you are allergic to vitamin A or carotenoids. Allergic reactions to capsicum may occur. Stop eating eggs with capsicum-based colouring and seek emergency medical attention if you experience symptoms of a serious allergic reaction including difficulty breathing; closing of the throat; swelling of the lips, tongue, or face; or hives. Other less serious side effects have also been reported. Talk to your doctor, pharmacist, or health care provider if you experience upset stomach; heartburn; diarrhoea; migraine attacks or burning sensation in the mouth or throat. Use of Capsicum is not recommended if you are pregnant. If you are or will be breast-feeding while eating food containing Capsicum, check with your doctor or pharmacist to discuss the risks to your baby. Capsicum colourings can bring on anaphylactic shock. See details about which plants generate these problems on this site at the University of Maryland: http://www.umm.edu/altmed/articles/anaphylaxis-000008.htm Marigold Some people experience breathing problems, tightness in the chest, swelling of the mouth, tongue or throat. A skin rash or hives may occur.

Consumers ripped-off by some egg producers

The gullibility of consumers never ceases to amaze me. Most just accept the marketing blurb provided by producers – even at Farmers' Markets.

Recent hot weather has been used as an excuse by some egg producers to put manufactured colouring additives and meat meal in their poultry rations. (Many others have been doing that for years).

Now more than 95% (and it's probably 99%) of egg producers, even those which claim to be free range, are using additives to enhance yolk colour as hot conditions have dried off the pasture on which the hens are supposed to roam.

They have looked for a solution which is low cost and easy rather than go to the extra effort (and cost) of supplementing existing feed with green leafy vegetables, pumpkins, carrots and lucerne meal or sprouted grains.

Here's a Facebook post by an egg producer which provides an 'excuse' for its decision: “Please note that we have an immediate change in poultry diet based on veterinary and animal nutritionist’s advice due to severe heat stress caused by prolonged 40’C + temperatures.
Our feed ration needs to include soluble meat protein and natural pigmentation (which is the norm in the egg industry). The extreme heat has decimated our green pasture and caused weight loss in flocks and as such we have no alternative but to implement these changes to our farming practices”.

The big difficulty with colouring additives is that although some may be based on natural products, they are manufactured in laboratories or factories (often in China) and concentrated in powder or liquid form. Many of them generate allergic reactions or sensitivities – which lead people to think that they are allergic to eggs.

 

We can provide details about the allergic properties of the commonly used additives.

The use of meat meal is also an issue as poultry products are frequently used by the feed mills.

Purslane - better than colouring additives

We have been doing everything we can to try to maintain yolk colour in our eggs – everything that is short of putting colouring additives in the chook food.


It's always difficult at this time of year when everything is so dry and there is little green in the paddocks.

We are feeding as much green leafy stuff as we can from the veggie garden and encouraging purslane in the pasture.

The plant purslane is regarded by most people as a weed but it is a rich source of omega-3 fatty acids, which everyone seems to want in their diet these days. Some reports say that purslane is one of the most abundant vegetable sources of omega-3 fatty acids. Fatty acids such as linoleic acid and palmitic acid have also been identified in purslane seeds.

Purslane is a rich source of vitamins, with vitamins A, B, C, and E contained within the plant. Purslane is high in carotenoid content, including Beta-Carotene. Beta Carotene is one of the natural substances which helps to generate deep coloured yolks. Calcium, magnesium, potassium, folate, and lithium are also found in the plant.

For all those reasons we are trying to grow as much purslane as we can because we reckon it's a much better bet than putting colouring additives in the feed – which is the choice made by virtually all other egg producers. Many of the colouring additives used by egg producers are synthetic but even the one's processed from things like capsicum and marigold can have adverse effects on people with allergies.We sometimes hear people saying that they are allergic to eggs - well it's probably not the eggs they are allergic to it's more likely the additives put in the chook food for cosmetic reasons.