Budget Egg Tips

By Text: Karen Ansel, RD
June 24, 2009
Credit: Randy Mayor
Save money and buy the best eggs with our advice.
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Skip the egg substitutes.

Credit: Randy Mayor
Egg substitutes are essentially egg whites with added food color. Yet they’re pricier than whites from whole eggs. Just one-quarter cup of Egg Beaters (the equivalent to the whites of two eggs) costs $.50. That’s nearly twice the amount you’d pay for an equivalent amount of whites from whole eggs. Plus, once you open the container, they spoil more quickly, too.
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Brown eggs offer no cost advantage.

Credit: Randy Mayor
Despite a price tag that’s 40 percent higher on average, brown eggs are identical to white in terms of taste and nutrition. Hens that lay brown eggs are bigger, so they eat more feed―a cost that’s passed along to you.

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Choose the store brand.

Credit: Randy Mayor
Store brand eggs have the same quality as name brands, but they’re almost always less expensive.
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Shop your supermarket.

Credit: Randy Mayor
While eggs from the farmer’s market may seem fresher, they aren’t subject to the same regulations as commercial eggs. "When you buy eggs at the farmers' market you don’t know where that egg has been, if it’s been refrigerated, or if it’s been washed or cleaned," says Mary Torell, public information officer with the Poultry and Egg Division of the Nebraska Department of Agriculture. "When you buy eggs from the grocery store you know they have been gathered quickly, USDA inspected, washed, transported in refrigerated trucks and shipped to the supermarket within 36 to 48 hours of being laid."
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By Text: Karen Ansel, RD