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EC Regulation No. 589/2008 for egg handling contains a number of incongruities and incompleteness, which confuse the EU food chain operators and consumers. The major inconsistencies, challenged in this comment article, result from: (i) overemphasis on the possibility of eggshell condensation and Salmonella -related safety risks, while overlooking other substantial safety and quality hazards, and (ii) obscure or missing temperature and humidity control requirements, which inspires fear from chilled storage but tolerates handling at high temperatures. The regulation's performance is deliberated as regards its geographical coverage and applicability under natural and artificial conditions in various climatic regions across Europe. A brief outline of published scientific evidence clearly demonstrates that a continuous and ubiquitous cold chain, along with a proper humidity control and anti-condensation measures (where necessary), dramatically improve egg safety, quality and shelf-life. Several alternative legislations around the world are also recapped in this context. The applicable EU egg control regulation needs to be carefully reconsidered and updated by introducing temperature and humidity conditions correlated with resulting safety, quality and shelf life. Substantial efforts should also be made to harmonise the huge discrepancies between relevant codes and practices in Europe, USA and the rest of the world. • EC Regulation No. 589/2008 prevents eggs from refrigeration before sale to consumers. • Damp condensation on shells is not the only serious hazard for egg safety and quality. • Precise temperature and humidity control should apply throughout the egg supply chain. • EU regulation should guarantee the consumer's interest for safe and high-quality eggs. • EC Regulation No. 589/2008 needs a careful knowledge-based reconsideration and update. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A systematic review of production systems and egg quality was performed. • 50 research articles about production system were investigated. • Europe was ranked as the first in establishing investigations. • Egg weight was the most studied quality response. • The production system demonstrated to affect some external and internal egg characteristics. Although conventional battery hen cages are still prevalent in the global market, the movement towards greener methods is gaining momentum beyond Europe. However, egg quality and the degree to which it is affected by the different systems of production remains a controversial subject and there is still no consensus among researchers. Using PRISMA guidelines the literature reporting the housing systems effects of egg quality was systematically investigated. The related studies with different eggs production systems by databases including Web of Science, PubMed, and Scopus (between 1992 and 2020) were retrieved. Were adopted inclusion criteria, accepting studies that discussed measurable effects related to the topic that was written in English, Portuguese and Spanish. The search results which met the inclusion criteria were evaluated and included in the review In this regard, out of 3380 explored articles in the identification stage, 50 studies were used in the systematic review. Hen housing systems from different countries were recapped in this study. A brief outline of published scientific evidence demonstrates that the production system can change the egg quality. The overall rank order considering the type of system studied was cage (88%) > free-range (32%) > floor (30%) > organic (22%) and aviary (8%). Among the continents researched, Europe proved to have the most developed research relating to the subject. Egg weight was the most studied quality response. This study summarizes the housing system types used in egg production and provides a roadmap for future research regarding egg production. Robust trials evaluating different housing systems in the same conditions, and evaluating the interaction of factors such as genetics and age of animals, evaluating more responses of internal and external quality of eggs are lacking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]