Eggland's Best Large Eggs: 6g Protein per Egg, Labelgrade B (78/100)
B 78 / 100 — A whole egg is one of the cleanest, most complete proteins you can buy — a single ingredient with the highest biological value of any common food. The Labelgrade B is held down by the per-100g protein math (eggs are ~26% water and carry their fat in the yolk) rather than by anything wrong with the product. Eggland's Best runs slightly leaner than a generic large egg (60 cal vs ~72), which it credits to its hens' feed.
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An Eggland’s Best Large Egg gives you 6 g of complete protein for 60 calories — plus 4 g of fat, 0 g of carbs, and 1 g of saturated fat in a 50 g egg (USDA FDC 578450). That works out to about 12 g of protein per 100 g, a number that looks ordinary until you remember an egg is roughly a quarter water and parks its fat in the yolk. On the measure that actually matters for an egg — protein quality — nothing in the grocery store beats it: a whole egg has the highest biological value of any common food and is the benchmark every other protein gets scored against. It earns a B (78/100), capped by the per-weight density math and the yolk’s fat, not by anything wrong with the egg. Eggland’s Best is a feed-differentiated egg: at 60 calories it runs a touch leaner than a generic large egg (~72), and the brand credits its hens’ enriched vegetarian diet for more vitamin D, E, B12, and omega-3.
Why the B
| Dimension | Grade | Score | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Protein density | C+ | 68 / 100 | 12 g per 100 g — moderate by weight only. An egg is ~26% water with its calories split between white-protein and yolk-fat, so the per-gram figure measures dilution, not the protein. As a complete protein it is unbeatable |
| Ingredient quality | B | 78 / 100 | One whole-food ingredient — there’s no ingredient list to flag. The only thing keeping it off an A is that the yolk’s saturated fat and cholesterol nudge the formula down |
| Saturated fat load | A- | 88 / 100 | 1 g per egg (~2 g per 100 g) — low. Eggland’s Best markets roughly 25% less saturated fat than an ordinary egg, again from the feed |
| Sodium load | A- | 87 / 100 | 65 mg per egg — low, and 100% naturally occurring. Nothing is salted or added |
| Sugar load | A+ | 100 / 100 | 0 g sugar, 0 g carbs — perfect, and structural for an egg |
| Fiber | F | 30 / 100 | 0 g — expected for any pure animal protein; the formula doesn’t pretend otherwise |
The grade reads worse than the food deserves because two of the six dimensions — density and fiber — are essentially fixed by what an egg is, not by how good it is. A 12 g/100 g protein density and a fiber goose-egg are the price of admission for every whole egg on the shelf; they would drag a perfect egg down just the same. Strip those structural penalties away and what’s left is a single-ingredient, complete protein with low sodium, low saturated fat, and zero sugar.
The one number worth pausing on is cholesterol: 175 mg per egg, nearly all of it in the yolk. It doesn’t factor into the Labelgrade, because current US dietary guidance no longer treats dietary cholesterol as a figure most people need to cap — the old 300 mg/day ceiling is gone. For most adults the effect of egg cholesterol on blood cholesterol is modest. If a doctor has told you to limit it, that’s between you and your yolks.
The whole egg vs the leaner alternatives
If your only goal is the most protein for the fewest calories, the whole egg loses — on paper. Here’s the honest comparison:
| Product | Protein per serving | Calories | Sat fat | Cholesterol | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eggland’s Best Large Egg (this product) | 6 g (1 egg) | 60 | 1 g | 175 mg | Whole egg, enriched feed |
| Generic USDA large egg | 6 g (1 egg) | ~72 | 1.6 g | 186 mg | Whole egg, baseline |
| Eggland’s Best 100% Liquid Egg Whites | 5 g (3 Tbsp) | 25 | 0 g | 0 mg | Whites only — no fat, no cholesterol |
| Plain cooked chicken breast (100 g) | 31 g | ~165 | ~1 g | ~85 mg | Leaner per gram, no yolk micronutrients |
The catch is that the whole egg’s “weakness” — the 4 g of yolk fat that drags its protein-per-calorie down — is also where almost all of its value hides. The yolk carries the choline, vitamin D, B12, and fat-soluble A and E; the white is mostly protein and water. So the trade is real: egg whites or chicken breast win on lean protein per calorie, but you pay for it in micronutrients. If you’re deep in a cut and counting every calorie, reach for the whites (and a whites carton is the cleaner way to do it than cracking and discarding yolks). If you eat eggs for the whole package, keep the yolk — that’s the part doing the heavy lifting.
What you’re actually paying extra for
Eggland’s Best costs more than the white-carton store-brand dozen, and the difference is entirely upstream of the egg: the hens eat an enriched vegetarian feed, and that’s it — nothing is done to the egg after it’s laid. The brand’s claims trace back to that diet: more vitamin D, vitamin E, B12, and omega-3, plus the lower saturated fat and the 60-vs-72-calorie edge over a generic egg. Those are genuine differences, but they’re marginal — a vitamin top-up, not a different food. Whether the premium earns its keep comes down to whether you eat enough eggs for “a bit more D and omega-3 per egg” to matter to you. The protein, the completeness, and the choline are the same in any whole egg you buy; that part you’re not paying extra for.
One practical note: Eggland’s Best runs the same hen program across Medium, Large, Extra Large, and Jumbo, plus cage-free, organic, and hard-boiled lines. Per-egg nutrition scales with size — a jumbo egg carries more of everything on this label — so check the carton for the exact size and any cage-free or organic designation before you assume these numbers.
Ingredients
Eggs. (A whole egg is a single-ingredient food; the USDA Branded Foods entry, FDC 578450, lists no separate ingredient statement — the only variable is the hen’s feed.)
Where to buy
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Quick Facts
Per serving · 1 egg (50 g)
See how this fits your day — protein calculator · macro calculator
Full nutrition facts
| Nutrient | Per Serving (1 egg (50 g)) |
|---|---|
| Calories | 60 |
| Protein | 6g |
| Total Fat | 4g |
| Saturated Fat | 1g |
| Trans Fat | 0g |
| Total Carbohydrates | 0g |
| Sodium | 65mg |
| Cholesterol | 175mg |
| Calcium | 20mg |
| Iron | 0.72mg |
Scope: This page applies specifically to Eggland's Best Large Eggs (1 dozen (12 eggs)) · UPC 715141503494. Other sizes, flavors, or formulations may differ.
How this fits each diet
Each score is computed from the same USDA nutrition + ingredient data, against the published rules of each diet. They tell you "does this food fit this diet" — not whether the diet is right for you.
contains no listed animal products
contains no listed meat or fish
no wheat, barley, rye, or malt detected in USDA ingredient list
Frequently Asked Questions
How much protein is in an Eggland's Best Large Egg?
6 g of protein per large egg (50 g), per USDA FDC 578450 — about 12 g per 100 g. About 57% of that protein sits in the white and the rest in the yolk, and all of it is complete: an egg carries all nine essential amino acids in close to the ideal ratio for human use, which is why egg protein is the reference standard nutritionists score other proteins against.
How many calories are in one Eggland's Best egg?
60 calories per large egg — slightly leaner than a generic USDA large egg (~72 calories). Eggland's Best attributes the difference to its hens' enriched vegetarian feed, which it says also raises the egg's vitamin D, vitamin E, B12, and omega-3 content while lowering saturated fat.
Why is the protein density only a C+ if eggs are such a good protein?
Because the score is per 100 g of whole egg, and a whole egg is roughly a quarter water with its calories split between protein and yolk fat — so by weight it lands at 12 g protein per 100 g, which reads 'moderate.' That number measures dilution, not quality. On biological value (how much of the protein your body can actually use) the egg is the single highest-scoring common food, which is the dimension the density math can't see.
Is the cholesterol in eggs a problem?
Each egg has 175 mg of cholesterol, nearly all of it in the yolk. For decades that number scared people, but current US dietary guidance no longer caps cholesterol at 300 mg/day for most adults — for the majority of people, dietary cholesterol from eggs has only a modest effect on blood cholesterol. If you have familial hypercholesterolemia or your doctor has told you to limit cholesterol, that advice still applies. Otherwise an egg or two a day fits most patterns of eating.
What's actually in the yolk that the white doesn't have?
The yolk carries essentially all of the egg's choline (about 145 mg, a nutrient most diets fall short on), its vitamin D and B12, its fat-soluble vitamins A and E, and the 4 g of fat that makes the egg satiating. The 1 g of saturated fat, the 175 mg of cholesterol, and the 20 mg of calcium live there too. Throw the yolk out and you keep a little over half the protein but lose nearly all the micronutrients.
Do Eggland's Best eggs have any added ingredients?
No. An egg is a single-ingredient whole food — the USDA Branded Foods entry lists no ingredient statement because there is nothing to declare. The only thing Eggland's Best changes is what the hen eats, not anything added to the egg.
Is one egg 'high in protein' under FDA rules?
One egg (6 g) is 12% of the FDA's 50 g Daily Value — enough to claim 'good source of protein,' but short of the 20% bar for 'high in protein.' A two- or three-egg portion (12–18 g) clears it.