Korean egg shell code numbers explanation (date, farm, and conditions)

Eggs sold in Korea all come with special codes individually stamped on each egg. This code gives you a lot of "eggcellent" information for your health and even animal welfare. I realized I've never seen a simple explanation of this code in English so I threw one together for this post.

Korean egg shell codes

Korean egg shell codes guide

This simple image will give you the basic info. I'll write about it below for those who prefer text. Apologizes for the poor graphics skills. I just uh borrowed someone else's Korean version and slapped some English onto it to make it easier and simpler for waygookins.

Egg shell code explanations

All the eggs have a 10 digit code divided into chunks of 4 digits, 5 digits, and 1 digit, as follows:

4 digits: Date the egg was laid (in MM DD format). So in this picture, the egg was laid on September 10th.
5 digits: Unique farm code to identify which farm the egg came from if necessary
1 digit: Breeding environment code (사육환경번호)

Chicken welfare code

That last digit is probably most important since it reveals the type of conditions the chicken was raised in.

1 - Free range.
Chickens get to roam aroudn outside in the sun
2 - Cage free.
Chickens are kept inside a large barn, so don't actually get much sun, but at least they can roam around a little and have some space to flap in and dirt to walk on.
3 - Caged (more space).
Chickens are kept in cages, with up to 13 birds per square meter permitted.
4 - Caged (less space).
Chickens are kept in narrower cages ("battery cages") with up to 20 birds per square meter.

Other useful info

Regarding the date code, eggs usually keep around 15 days after laying if stored in the pantry, or up to 45 days if stored in the refrigerator. So when in doubt, check those first 4 digits on the egg.

Meanwhile that unique farmer code can be looked up on the Korean government food safety website [https://www.foodsafetykorea.go.kr/portal/fooddanger/farmInfoSearch.do]

For example I had some eggs in my fridge I ordered off Coupang with the code VVLSO. Looks like they came from Sejong City of all places.

Looking up farm info on Korea Food Safety portal

So now you know. If you care about the welfare of our feathered friends it's probably best to buy eggs ending in 1 or 2. Although in this day and age most human beings live a life of the 3 or 4 level.

Happy egging.

Tips of the hat to the following sources: