What those numbers on your eggs mean | culinary

We found the answer at Wakker Dier.

First of all: as you may have noticed, the codes start with a number from 0 to 3. The number says something about the welfare of the chickens, says Wakker Dier. The lower the number, the better the well-being.

An overview:

• Organic eggs – egg code starts with the number 0
• Free-range eggs or grass-fed eggs – egg code starts with the number 1
• Free range eggs – egg code starts with the number 2
• Cage eggs – egg code starts with the number 3

In addition to those numbers, there are also letters, such as NL. These letters are an abbreviation for the country where the eggs come from. In the Netherlands, almost only eggs from our own country are sold.

The last set of numbers refers to the company from which the eggs come. This makes tracing possible, should anything turn out to be wrong with the eggs later.

Better Life quality mark

“Yet there are also eggs with code 2 that are more animal-friendly than a free-range egg. That is why it is better to pay attention to the Beter Leven quality mark in the supermarket than to the numbers of the egg codes.”

By the way, did you know that laying hens from free-range eggs never go outside? They scurry in against thousands of congeners.