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From Cecil's Mailbag by the Straight Dope Science Advisory Board
Dear Straight Dope:
I was wondering why we are told not to eat an egg that contains
a
red spot. I know this means the egg is fertilized and some how
slipped by
unnoticed by the inspectors. But why not eat it anyway? It appears
normal in
all other respects. Can you dip out the red spot and use the rest
of
the egg in a recipe? What's the s-coop on eggs? --dan
SDSTAFF Jill replies:
Wrong on both accounts, Dan. (Wish I were better at puns, because
there are thousands of possibilities in this topic.) There is no
health hazard from eating eggs that contain red spots, and the red
spot doesn't mean the egg is fertilized. It's just a spot of
blood. As Sue at Mountain States Meat and Poultry told me, "hens
that lay the eggs you buy in the store are never exposed to a
male." (Exposed?) Sue told me that when she cracks an egg
and sees a blood spot, she dips it out with a spoon, but only
because of the unappetizing look of it, not because it poses any
health risk. She said blood from the chicken can get into the yolk
occasionally while the egg is being formed, especially if she
experiences any stress during the process (the hen, not Sue). Sue
gave the example of her dog getting into her henhouse at home
(wouldn't you think she'd want to go
home from that place to a chickenless home?) and chasing the hens
around. Later several of them laid eggs with blood spots in them.
It's caused by minor ruptures or hemorrhages inside the chicken.
I also talked to Russ at another poultry place, and he told me
several interesting things. There are inspectors called "candlers"
at poultry plants who shine bright lights at eggs to look for and
discard any eggs found to have blood spots in them. They also
check for shell quality. Americans take their "egg aesthetics"
(say that quickly five times) very seriously. Russ wouldn't tell
me what these candlers get paid. He also told me that brown
hens lay brown eggs and white hens lay white eggs, but when I
cross-examined him in my aggressive journalistic style about that,
he admitted that it was the breed and not just the color that
determined the color of the egg. Don't talk down to me, Russ.
SDSTAFF Jill
Straight Dope Science Advisory Board
Cecil's Mailbag is researched and written by members of the Straight Dope Science Advisory Board, Cecil's online auxiliary. Although the SDSAB does its best, these articles are edited by Ed Zotti, not Cecil, so accuracywise you'd better keep your fingers crossed.
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