By: Emma Slattery, Student NutritionistThere's a stigma surrounding the shell color of the eggs that we eat. White eggs vs. brown eggs. Brown eggs have the moral high road and are usually thought to be from organic, local, free range chickens. White eggs are surrounded by rumors of shell bleaching, chemicals, and whitening processes. Contrary to the popular opinions- brown eggs aren't nutritionally superior than white eggs! The real secret behind the color of the eggs is this:
The eggs depend on the type of chicken! Certain chickens lay white eggs and certain chickens lay brown eggs. A good tip is to look at a chicken's ear lobes since the coloring of the ear lobes is predictive of the coloring of the eggs. Chickens with white earlobes lay white eggs. Chickens with red earlobes lay brown eggs. For my hardcore nerdy readers: all eggs start out as white and the extra pigment is added in the last 20 hours before the egg is laid. And it's chicken genetics that determine how much pigment is added to the shell in those last hours. Other than a little extra pigment there is no nutritional difference between a white egg and a brown egg or even a hen that lays blue eggs!
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ABOUTTerps With Taste is run by the Student Nutritionist Team with University of Maryland Dining Services. We write content for students, by students. Enjoy! Categories
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