Why It’s Better to Buy White Eggs Over Brown Eggs
Most of us believe that the color of the shell of chicken eggs does not play any role and can be ignored. But this is not the case, and the best proof that color is of fundamental importance is the campaign launched by farmers in many countries.
Egg producers are asking us to prioritize white eggs so that brown eggs will disappear from the world market forever.
Why are they so concerned about this issue? The farmers’ campaign, which has been joined by public figures and even some artists, is due to the fact that the owners of poultry farms want to stop breeding birds that lay brown eggs.
The reason is that chickens that lay dark eggs are very aggressive and, if special measures are not taken, they will mercilessly cripple each other.
To protect the livestock, most farms practice the effective but brutal procedure of infrared beak cutting (debeaking). This operation, after which the birds are not able to inflict serious wounds on each other, is very painful and environmentalists have long opposed it.
Such a measure is rarely applied to birds that lay white eggs, as they get along well with each other even in the cramped poultry farms. What is the reason for such a different attitude towards their relatives in birds of the same species, scientists cannot yet say. Many experts tend to believe that the conditions under which birds are kept play a major role.
The worse the conditions and the higher the density of birds per unit area, the more aggressive they are to each other. At the same time, supporters of this theory cannot explain in any way how it happened that individuals that lay brown-shelled eggs express more dissatisfaction.
One of the most respected experts in the UK, Vice President of the British Veterinary Poultry Association, Richard Jackson, considers information that breeds of chickens with light plumage, laying white eggs, are more friendly, unscientific. In his opinion, this rumor was spread by people who are not familiar with the essence of the issue.
On the other hand, it is difficult to expect complacency from birds that work “for wear and tear.” Breeds producing brown eggs collectively produce up to 11 billion eggs per year. At the same time, birds that lay white eggs are ten times less productive. In the UK and most other European countries, brown-colored eggs are preferred by consumers. Demand for whites is so low that sometimes farmers have to turn them in for processing.
Interestingly, until the early 70s, the British preferred white eggs. Then from somewhere, there was a rumor that brown eggs contain more nutrients and are also more natural than white ones. Because of this, there was a skew in demand in favor of the dark variety, which is observed today throughout the world. This phenomenon is similar to the concept of brown bread, which, according to healthy food lovers, represents an eco-friendly traditional product.
However, for specialists from China, there is no difference – brown or white eggs are the most popular, as they have learned to make this product of any color and without the participation of laying hens.
