Review: Production factors affecting the quality of chicken table eggs and egg products in Europe

The hen's egg (Gallus gallus) is an animal product of great agronomic interest, with a world production of 70.9 million tonnes in 2018. China accounted for 35% of world production, followed by North America (12% of world production), the European Union (7.0 million tonnes, 10% of world production) and India (5.0 million tonnes, 7% of world production). In France, 16–17 billion eggs are produced annually (14.5 billion for table eggs) and more than 1 200 billion worldwide. In 2019, egg production increased by 3.3% compared to 2018, mainly due to the increase in Asian production, which has risen by 42% since 2000. Chicken eggs are widely used either as a low-cost, high nutritional quality food cooked by the consumer (more than 100 billion eggs consumed in Europe), or incorporated as an ingredient in many food products. The various production methods have changed considerably over the last 15 years with the consideration of animal welfare and changes in European regulations. In Europe, fewer and fewer eggs are produced in confinement and there has been a strong growth in the number of systems giving access to an outdoor run. In this review, we describe the different ways in which eggs are produced and processed into egg products to meet the growing demand for ready-to-use food products. We analyse the effect of this evolution of hen-rearing systems on the set of characteristics of eggs and egg products that determine their quality. We describe the risks and benefits associated with these new production methods and their influence or lack of influence on commercial, nutritional, microbial and chemical contamination risk characteristics, as well as the evolution of the image for the consumer. The latter covers the ethical, cultural and environmental dimensions associated with the way the egg is produced.