Accounting for taste: Do non-cage eggs taste different? Discoveries from a blind-taste test

Abstract

Eggs are an excellent source of high-quality protein, which are easy to cook and relatively inexpensive when compared to other sources of animal protein. The per-capita consumption of eggs in New Zealand is among the highest in the world, and market research has shown that eggs are a particularly important source of protein for lower income families. In 2015 New Zealand joined the EU and some of the states in the USA in phasing out the use of conventional cages for egg production. While alternative systems (colony cages, barn, free range and pasture) are perceived to be more welfare friendly than conventional cages, they are also associated with higher production costs – which may have important implications for low-income families. This study was designed to determine whether individuals can identify the difference between cage eggs, and eggs obtained from alternative production systems. Sensory attributes evaluated were aroma, taste, texture, flavor and overall preference. At a conventional level of significance (p<0.05), the results suggest that panelists were not able to discriminate between cage eggs and eggs produced using the other systems. However, there was weak evidence (p<0.1) that panelists could detect a difference between conventional cage eggs and those produced under a pasture system. In terms of preference, although an overall ANOVA test showed significant differences for taste and texture liking across production systems, the post-hoc Tukey means separation test did not find different groupings. These results suggest that eggs produced in non-cage systems have few advantages from a strictly hedonic/sensory perspective. Future work will determine whether advanced knowledge of the production system will influence consumer sensory evaluation.