Egg-Laying Hens Fed Seal Blubber.

Scientists from the Poultry Science Association attempting to reduce the harmful effects of eating eggs are experimenting with feeding blubber from slaughtered Canadian seals to egg-laying hens.

Nutritionists say that the average industrialized diet produces an Omega-6/Omega-3 ratio that is higher than necessary. Omega-6 oils are found in plant oils as well as unhealthy foods such as animal fats and eggs. Studies indicate that eating eggs can increase a person’s level of arachidonic acid (Omega-6) and contributes to this uneven fatty acid ratio. Because of this, some researchers are on a quest to reduce this ratio and make a “healthier” egg. One way they are doing this is by feeding hens seal blubber.

Over 16,000 tons of blubber are taken from Canadian seals during the annual slaughter and, not surprisingly, the backers of the research are in the blubber business. The Government of Newfoundland and Labrador (where the seal slaughter takes place) and Fisheries and Oceans Canada funded this research which is conducted by “scientists” from the Poultry Science Association. The report attempts to make a scientific case for using seal blubber in the farmed animal industry but is clearly a business proposal disguised as nutrition research.

Killing seals to harvest their blubber to feed to egg laying hens is an overly complicated process for an unnecessary and unhealthy product. Feeding hens seal blubber may help balance the fatty acids in eggs, but it also compounds their cruelty. It’s shameful that a study funded by Canadian tax dollars disguised as nutrition research exists only to justify the brutal seal slaughter and future harvest of seal products.