A report from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency indicates that a lot of eggs, especially from small grading stations, fail to meet standards.
The report also indicates that the dominant companies in Ontario, which have had multiple quality issues in the past, appear to be doing much better than smaller-volume competitors.
I received documents under Access to Information on all eggs that flunked when the CFIA conducted random sample testing.
Burnbrae Farms of Lyn, Ont., had four samples there flunk inspection and one each in Abbotsford, B.C., and Calgary, Alta.
Grayridge Eggs Inc. of Listowel had one sample flunk, but Golden Valley Foods Ltd. in Abbotsford, B.C., in which L.H. Gray and Sons Ltd. holds a significant ownership share, had 22 samples flunk.
Burnbrae and Gray together hold about 90 per cent of the Ontario market where they are also the largest egg farmers and they both have nation-wide holdings and markets.
Nutri Oeufs Inc. of St. Hyacinthe, which has operations in several provinces, had 31 samples from its Quebec plant flunk.
Here’s how the smaller operations stack up, with the number of failed samples in brackets:
Quebec:
Ferme St. Zatique Ltee of St. Zatique (13) plus one sample from its free-range operation, Grover Bruns Biologique.
Ferme Avicole Yboy Labelle of St. Eustache (3).
Les Oeufs Ovale Inc. of St. Lambert (16).
Ferme des Paysens of St. Jean-Baptiste (1).
Les Oeufs Richard of Riviere-Heva (3).
Ferme Clons Gauthier et fils of St.-Theodore d’Acton (2).
Ontario:
Ontario Pride Eggs, Kitchener (1).
Beking’s Poultry Farm, Oxford Station (1).
OK Egg Farm, Elmira (1).
Local Eggs Ltd., Millbank (1).
British Columbia:
Ben Den Ventures, Creston (4).
Golden Valley Foods, Abbotsford (22).
Mill Creek Farm, Harrup (1).
Pickle Patch Eggs, Creston (2).
Zebroff’s Organic Farm, Creston (1).
Pine Grove Farms Ltd., Abbotsford (7).
Thompson Creek Farm, Ruskin (1).
Farmer Ben’s Eggs, Duncan (3).
Island Eggs, Westholme (4).
Alberta:
Springhill Eggs, Lethbridge (3).
Spark’s Eggs, Colony (3).
Galimax Trading Co. (7).
Pincher Creek Colony (8).
Plainview Colony (1).
Little Bow Colony (7).
Springpoint Colony (3).
Goseglen Colony (1).
Granum Colony (2).
Harvest Haven (1).
Saskatchewan:
Star Egg Company, Saskatoon (1-lab test).
Manitoba:
Ackron Egg Farms Ltd., Steinbach (2-lab tests).
Country Side Farms, Steinbach (1-lab test).
Evergreen Colony Ltd. Somerset (1-lab test).
The full report can be obtained by filing a request to the CFIA Access to Information office, asking for already-released documents. It’s on the internet at open https://open.canada.ca/en/search/ati?ati%5B0%5D=ss_ati_organization_en%3ACanadian%20Food%20Inspection%20Agency.
