We tested every egg in Whole Foods, including Vital Farms

Recently, headlines went viral claiming that Vital Farms eggs contain as much Omega-6 fat as canola oil.

For long-time readers, this wasn’t breaking news, we published the exact same testing results over a year ago. However, the renewed panic offered a perfect opportunity to dig deeper.

We analyzed every major egg brand at Whole Foods up against the best soy-free eggs in the country to see what’s really going on inside the shell.

The Soy Factor: Why Feed Matters

The primary driver of high Omega-6 (linoleic acid) in chicken eggs is the feed. Conventional chickens are raised on a slurry of corn and soy—both crops that are high in unstable polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs).

When chickens eat high-PUFA feed, they lay high-PUFA eggs.

The Data:
As shown in our analysis of Average Omega 6:3 Ratio by Feed Type, the difference is stark:

• Conventional Feed: A ratio of nearly 11:1 (Omega-6 to Omega-3).

• Soy-Free Feed: A ratio of approximately 4.5:1.

The Takeaway: Simply removing soy from the chicken's diet cuts the inflammatory Omega-6 load by more than half.

The "Healthy" Egg Trap

Not all premium eggs are created equal. Just because a carton says "Organic" or "Pasture-Raised" doesn't mean it has a favorable fat profile.

We ranked eggs by Total Omega-6 per 100g (roughly 2 eggs, chart below), as well as % of fat from omega 6 (Chart above)

Should you boycott vital?

It’s important to understand that Vital Farms is not one farm or operator, but essentially a marketing layer over hundreds of independent farms in America. Vital sells almost $1B of eggs per year! They operate at a massive scale, and every box is potentially different.

You can see which farm the eggs came from on each box.

Their eggs had a lot of variance, but in general they did have nearly double the omega-6 of soy free eggs, as expected.

Why the variance?
It comes down to the specific feed formulation. "Restorative" or "Regenerative" farming focuses on soil health, but if the chickens are supplementing their pasture diet with heavy grains or even organic oils, the egg composition suffers.

Note on the "Viral" News: The claim that Vital Farms eggs are "like canola oil" depends entirely on which farm the eggs come from, and which eggs you actually eat. Things can vary a lot due to factors we don’t understand.

Soy-Free ≠ Perfect

While seeking out "Soy-Free" is a great heuristic for finding better eggs, it isn't a magic bullet.

• The Sunflower Swap: Some farms (Shirttail Creek) remove soy but replace it with sunflower oil or meal, which is also high in linoleic acid.

• The Flax Hack: Other farms pump chickens full of flaxseed to artificially jack up the Omega-3 numbers on the label. While this improves the ratio, it can result in an unstable egg prone to oxidation.

You want a bird that eats bugs, grubs, and grass—not just a bird eating a different kind of engineered grain.

The Bottom Line: Should You Stop Eating Eggs?

Absolutely not.
While it is fascinating to optimize your sourcing, it is vital to keep the numbers in perspective.

• Total Load: Even the "worst" egg on our chart contains less than 1g of Omega-6.

• Context: If you eat 100g of fat per day, a 2% (2 eggs, 2 grams) boost in your omega-6 content isn’t ideal, but it’s not catastrophic if your other fat sources are solid.

Eggs are a nutritional powerhouse, packed with choline, biotin, Vitamin A, and high-quality protein. The bioavailability of nutrients in an egg vastly outweighs the downside of the Omega-6 content for the average person.

Action Plan

1. Best Choice: Look for Corn & Soy Free eggs raised on pasture (e.g., Angel Acres, Primal Pastures).

2. Good Choice: If shopping at a standard grocery store, we recommend buying the best eggs you can, there are other factors to egg health besides omega 6 content (pesticides, nutrients etc)

3. Don't Stress: If you can't find perfect eggs, don't skip breakfast. Just avoid the deep fryer at lunch.

Nourish Food Club brings you farm-fresh food produced the old-fashioned way, all in one place: corn- and soy-free eggs, chicken, and pork; raw A2 dairy; 100% grass-fed beef; chemical-free produce; and traditional heritage grain sourdough. We’re on a mission to revive small regenerative farms and bring back the clean, wholesome food your great-great-grandma would recognize—with the convenience of modern delivery.

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