Vegetarian - Why Vegans Don't Eat Eggs

 Potential vegetarians might be wondering why vegans make certain dietary choices.  They may be reluctant to adopt such choices until they fully understand their reasons.

This article, will clarify the two major vegetarian positions on eating eggs, to assist you in reaching a decision.

Those vegetarians, who do not include meat or dairy products in their diets but do eat eggs, are known as ovo-vegetarians. They do not see the consumption of eggs as being in conflict with their vegetarian diet.  Nor do they consider eggs to be living things, and so they don't believe that egg production need involve cruelty to animals.

Ovo-vegetarians seek to buy "free range" eggs, so as not to support battery hen egg production, out of consideration for the treatment of the birds.  Some vegetarians have been known to keep a few hens of their own, knowing that the birds would be properly cared for, and would produce eggs of good quality.

Many ovo-vegetarians consider that a strict vegan approach would needlessly limit their options, particularly as eggs are a good source of protein and a feasible nutritional substitute for meat.

On the other hand Vegans do not normally eat eggs, and as a rule totally exclude them from their diets. They emphasize that "battery hen" egg production involves cruelty to the birds, by severely restricting their movement, removing their beaks, and keeping them in conditions where maximum egg production is the dominant consideration.

Vegans also disapprove of free-range eggs, because although the hens may not be caged like battery hens, they are often packed into sheds where they spend their lives, without being allowed outside.  The vegans also believe that free-range egg production involves the use of fertile eggs.  They point out that half will hatch into male chicks, which may either be killed at birth, or fed to reach particular weights before being slaughtered for the table.

There are other reasons why some vegetarians exclude eggs from their diets.  Eggs are known to be high in cholesterol that has been widely publicized as a substantial health hazard.  For this reason even non-vegetarians control their intake of eggs in their efforts to remain healthy.  Many people, vegetarians and others, are of the opinion that so called, factory farming, including battery egg production, is detrimental to the environment.

Of course it is up to each vegetarian to decide whether they want to eat eggs or not.   It is undeniable that there are questions of animal welfare, environmental issues, and health matters to take into consideration.  After due deliberation you will come to the right conclusion - At least the right conclusion for you!