How can I detect bad-fed or fast-fed chicken eggs before buying?

Question

I have traveled in Eastern Europe and I am annoyed to find out supermarkets seem offer only stale eggs (like white inside, no A -vitamin, tastes bad), they cost in the range of 7-12 cents per egg. My host offered me some eggs from local people, they were superb -- thick yellow, good smelling and tasted good.

1. How can I know before buying that I am buying a quality egg?
2. I like to eat eggs on the morning so I find the bad eggs very irritating, the are like paper -- not nutritious at all. For cooking, I am unsure whether they matter but I want to buy now only quality healthy eggs. How can I find such eggs?

I feel there is no point to save a few cents to buy rubbish, eggs are very cheap protein source although I paid a bit more for healthy quality eggs.

Answer

It's not a simple matter to spot a good egg just by looking at it. Different breeds of chicken will lay eggs that look a bit different from each other. Also, it used to be quite common for farmers to feed the chickens some colourings that make the egg yoke more yellow. So a strong colour inside doesn't mean it's good quality.

I'd suggest, if you think eggs are cheap enough for your to not worry about money, you look for free range organic labels on the egg box. If the egg is officially from an organic source then you know it's not from a chicken stuffed up with chemicals.

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