812-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, January 4,1986
Eggs lose weight on supermarket shakes
ITHACA, NY - Americans are
so used to shopping for eggs by size
that they pay scant attention to the
weight of the eggs. Most shoppers,
in fact, couldn’t care less about it.
But, it matters to egg inspectors
who periodically check eggs in
food stores to make sure those eggs
weigh as indicated on the carton.
Fanners in violation of the law
governing the egg weight face a
stiff penalty.
Eggs crane in several sizes with
different weights. Jumbo eggs, for
example, miurt weigh 30 ounces a
dozen; extra large 27 ounces; large
24 ounces; medium 21 ounces; and
small 18 ounces. Eggs weighing
less than 18 ounces a dozen are
lumped into the so-called peewee
category.
The question is, do eggs sold in
the supermarket weigh as shown
on the carton?
“Not always,” says Robert C.
Baker, a poultry scientist in the
New York State College of
Agriculture and Life Sciences at
Cornell University. “A rash of
violations has been reported over
the years in New York State and in
other parts of the country.”
Are farmers cheating the
shopper?
The Cornell scientist doesn’t
think so. Farmers claim they abide
by the law to the letter, making
sure their eggs are at the legal
weight before leaving the farm.
Meanwhile, egg inspectors
representing state and federal
governments sometimes think
otherwise, because they oc
casionally discover eggs sold in the
supermarket that don’t weigh as
much as they should.
Prompted by this snaggy issue,
Cornell’s Baker decided to settle
the argument through an impartial
scientific investigation. He wanted
to find out who was right, the
farmer of the inspector.
The study, in an “eggshell,”
went this way. A bunch of eggs
from one strain of Single Comb
White Leghorn, one oi uie most
productive breeds known, was
separated into three popular sizes -
• namely, extra large, large, and
medium. Half of the eggs were
stored in a supermarket-type
refrigerator, with the temperature
set at 55*F. The other half were
kept at room temperature (70*F.).
In order not to overlook
anything, Baker tested eggs
produced during three different
periods of production: fourth,
eighth, and 12th month.
All eggs undergoing the test
were weighed every day for 21
days-long enough for eggs to
travel from the farm to the con
sumer’s dinner table through the
supermarket.
The result?
The Cornell scientist found that
those eggs, indeed, lost weight
Forest products
(Continued from Page RIO)
protecting species diversity, and
so on.”
Assuming such concerns can be
met, increases in world demand in
both industrialized and developing
nations offer major prospects. The
United States exported $7.3 billion
worth of forest products in 1962,
and OTA expects that to increase.
So do industry observers.
“The United States is becoming
more competitive each year,” says
John V. Ward, director of in
ternational trade for the NFPA,
whose business card is printed in
both English and Japanese.
Ward admits that American
producers are still oriented to the
domestic market. But he adds that
export figures-for lumber,
plywood, hardwood veneer-have
markedly increased in the last
decade.
“We think the potential is very
good to double the volume of our
exports over the next 10 years,” he
says.
somewhere along the way. It
turned out that the average weight
loss in all refrigerated eggs was 1.2
grains per egg, or 14.4 grams per
dozen; that translates into about
half-an-ounce loss in weight per
dozen.
Eggs stored at room tem
perature lost even more weight,
averaging 2.7 grams. That’s more
than twice the weight loss of those
eggs kept in the refrigerator.
In addition, eggs produced
during the fourth month of
production lost weight least,
whereas those from the 12th month
of production lost most.
“The larger the egg, the greater
the weight loss,” reports Baker, a
v
STRIKE
IT
RICH!
SELL
IT
WITH
A
LANCASTER
FARMING
CLASSIFIED
&
professor and chairman of Cor
nell’s Department of Poultry and
Avian Sciences.
Why do eggs lose so much
weight?
“That’s simple. They lose weight
through evaporation,” explains
Baker.
So Baker’s verdict is that neither
the farmer nor the egg inspector is
at fault. But, law is law, hence the
situation facing both the farmer
and the inspector is ticklish, Baker
acknowledges.
DO « ' T
SLOW
Call Now To Place Your
CLASSIFIED AD
A,
ALFALFA
FOR PEAK PERFORMANCE
CHECK IT OUT
✓ CONSISTENT HIGH YIELDS IN UNIVERSITY,
STATION TESTS
✓ EXCELLENT WINTER HARDINESS
✓ MULTI-PEST RESISTANCE
✓ MULTI-DISEASE RESISTANCE
CALL, WRITE OR COME IN AND TALK TO US
FOR ALLTHE PEAK ALFALFA DETAILS
Distributor
Northampton County Seed Co., Inc.
David Bird
RD #2 Box 122
Catawissa, Pa. 17820
717-365-7403
Sheldon Harsban
RD#l Box 418
Miffhntown, Pa. 17059
717-436-2523
inn’s Farm
Box 173 RD #1
Schnecksville, Pa. 18078
215-767-5281
IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO BE A DEALER FOR PEAK,
PLEASE FILL IN COUPON BELOW AND MAIL TO;
NORTHAMPTON COUNTY
SEED COMPANY, INC.
r 1
[FARMER NAME
lADDRESS
[PHONE NUMBER
_ _______ ______ _____ _ »
“One solution, I think,” says
Baker, “is that the farmer should
pack eggs that weigh a bit more
than legally required, taking into
consideration that the eggs will
lose some weight before shoppers
buy them in the supermarket.”
The Cornell scientist hopes that
his findings help settle this
longstanding issue because the
real culprit is the egg, not the
farmer.
Ultimately, .the winner will be
the consumer.
Ph: 717.3*4-3047 or 717-42*. 11 *4
PO Box 51
Bath, PA 18014
(215)837-6322
Dealers
RD #2 Box 384
Clark Summit, Pa. 18411
md Grain
480 Delaware Ave.
Palmerton, Pa. 18071
215-826-2117
ian Farmer
Chris!
do Peggy Berry
RD #1
Sussex, NJ 07461
914-726-3688
F.W. Eckel and
ions
717-586-2822
:man
RD #2 Box 78
Mertztown, Pa. 19539
215-682-7065