Sainsbury’s is ditching brown eggs and switching to white as it races to hit net zero.

The UK’s second-largest supermarket plans to sell only white-shell eggs in its own-brand cartons after studies found they have a lower carbon footprint than brown alternatives.

Sainsbury’s said the shift towards “lower carbon” eggs would help it hit ambitious targets to reach net zero within its own operations by 2035 and across all of its suppliers by 2050.

White eggs have a 12.7pc smaller carbon footprint than brown alternatives, Sainsbury’s said, because the hens that lay them tend to be smaller and consume less energy-intensive feed. The supermarket said this helps to “indirectly reduce demand on land and water used to grow feed crops, as well as the amount of manure produced”.

The retailer said the shift to white-shell eggs for its own-brand ranges would also help improve animal welfare across its supply chain, given the hens that lay them are less prone to feather pecking. In its latest annual report, the supermarket said it was “making progress” on the egg change.

The switch will see Sainsbury’s go back to the 1970s, when most eggs on Britain’s shelves were white.

Brown eggs became more prevalent after customers started to believe they were healthier and contained more nutrients. At the time, it was falsely claimed that white eggs had been bleached.

Up until relatively recently, brown eggs accounted for almost all the eggs sold in British supermarkets. The majority of white-shelled eggs – produced by breeds including the White Leghorn, which originated in Italy – have gone into restaurants rather than being sold directly to customers.

British supermarkets have started testing demand for white-shelled varieties in recent years. During the pandemic, Tesco began selling them after lockdown panic buying led to a shortage of brown alternatives.

Read More: Sainsbury’s ditches brown eggs in net zero drive