> Seems the merchants have flexible standards.  :-)

Um, you'll have to blame the hens, actually, unless they're
factory-raised (and you should really be eating eggs from free-range
hens -- better for you, and better for the hens).  A free-range hen
(like ours) who eats more purslane, or more goosefoot, or more flax
seed, will have higher ratios of Omega-3's in her eggs than her sister
who eats more corn and fewer wild green plants, for instance.
Free-range hens have some choices about what they eat, whereas
battery-cage hens eat what's put in front of them or they starve.  And
of course here in Ontario and in neighboring Quebec, free range hens
spend the coldest months of the winter indoors, so the balance of fatty
acids in their eggs will vary according to their seasonal feeding
habits.  (I think we get our very best quality eggs in late spring to
mid-summer when the chicken yard is flush with nutritious wild greens
and the hens have a chlorophyll orgy.)

So, the bottom line is this: I wouldn't get all hung up about the
farmers and merchants and their labeling practices, but I'd want to know
as much as possible about how the eggs were produced.  The feeding and
"lifestyle" program for a flock of hens will have a significant impact
on the fatty acid balance in their egg yolks.  If you want completely
consistent and predictable levels of Omega-3 fatty acids in your eggs,
then you'll have to buy egg-factory eggs laid by over-medicated,
stressed-out, battery-cage hens.  But if you want to eat eggs that are
closer in nutritional value and flavour to what a natural egg laid by
the *Gallus gallus* should be, then you should eat fresh, organic,
free-range eggs, especially during the spring and summer months.
(Actually, come to think about it, my hens' autumn diet is still pretty
good --- they get fewer wild greens, but they still get a lot of bugs,
worms, and micro- and macronutrients from the soil.)

Pat (AKA "Chicken Lady")