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Why are some egg yolks so orange?

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Re: Why are some egg yolks so orange?

#51

Post by nigerian1981 »

inglor_cz wrote: post #50
hongloumeng wrote: post #13

Not too long ago in China, consumers preferred duck eggs with red tinted yolks. Market vendors would crack off the top half of an egg and display its yolk, and consumers thought the redder the better. So, of course, farmers started feeding a carcinogenic dye called Sudan Red directly to the ducks. * http://www.china.org.cn/english/health/189567.htm

Chinese markets strike me as absolutely brutal. I mean, there is always some theft, fraud etc. in any market (one of the oldest written records of humanity is a customer complaint about bad copper sold by a certain Mesopotamian merchant called Ea-nasir in 1750 BC), but stuff like poisoning your customers with Sudan Red, or adding melamine to yoghurt, or frying food on gutter oil seems to always be reported from China…

The fake Chinese eggs were the high point for me

Re: Why are some egg yolks so orange?

#52

Post by dav_Oz »

waihtis wrote: post #7

Very interesting. I alternate between purchasing organic eggs and a variety called the Omega-3 egg; the former having a very bright yellow yolk and latter a deeper orange. Was always curious if one is ”better” than the other. Interestingly, the omega variety tastes much better.

Taste can be highly subjective and suggestible. There is a german saying: Das Auge isst mit. (literally: the eye eats with you) which kind of makes you aware that a lot of things end up determining taste [0] beside the direct experience of consistency and composition. Applying to colors: one can use different colors in placebo pills to suggest very different effects [1].

In case of direct intervention, different diets given to hens can significantly modify the fat composition and content [2]. Fat being a major constituent of direct taste experience by "enhancing" (solution medium for phytochemicals etc.) and determining consistentcy. There are basically no carbs in eggs so in this case this can be left out.

Taste:

PUFAs (Omega-3s, Omega-6s, Omega-9s ...) are chemically speaking highly unstable (multiple double bonds) under normal conditions, all by themselves they oxidize completely very quickly* to avoid this you can shield them for a while with antioxidants (e.g. phytochemicals) and encase them with more stable fat (SFA (no double bonds), MUFA (one double bond)). PUFAs with their significantly lower melting point contribute to the perceived creaminess at even very cool temperatures: e.g. irish butter (high Omega-3 content) vs "normal"/cheap/highly industrialized butter (low).

[*consequently becoming "rancid" in taste. A lot of people are actually so used to that taste in highly processed/fast food (oxidized fats through excessive heat) that they consider it "very tasty". Analogous to the "burned" coffee taste/smell a lot of older folks (habit, childhood memories) still enjoy.]

Health:

In the typical modern western diet (because of massive inclusion of industrial cheap plant sources) the ratio of Omega 3's/6's is way off like 20:1 and more in favor of 6's. Analogous to Vitamin A (Carotenoids/Retinol) the plant form of Omega 3 (ALA) is inefficiently converted[3] by humans (young women probably because of different needs (pregnancy) can utilize it a bit better than men) to a bioactive form, adding to the disbalance. We evolved to get a significant amount of Omega 3's from animal and marine (rivers/sea) sources (ultimately the primary bioreactors for easily convertible EPA/DHA being (marine) algea and phytoplankton).

Maybe what hens get to eat could be seen as something very minor to consider. I actually would like it on the label (as an ingredients list for the sophisticated "bioreactor" maybe incl. the conditions like hours outside to produce Vitamin D, antibiotics given ...) that's why I'm more inclined if I am able to buy regionally to see for myself. In talks with farmers a lot of them - if they bother to engage in a conversation - are actually very knowledgeable and aware about this, as a city dweller just informing myself from books/studies I'm constantly impressed about their virtuosity.

[0]https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Korzybski#Anecdotes

[1]https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2359128/

[2]https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-021-00343-1

[3]https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omega-3_fatty_acid#Conversio...

Re: Why are some egg yolks so orange?

#53

Post by azizsaya »

inglor_cz wrote: post #50
hongloumeng wrote: post #13

Not too long ago in China, consumers preferred duck eggs with red tinted yolks. Market vendors would crack off the top half of an egg and display its yolk, and consumers thought the redder the better. So, of course, farmers started feeding a carcinogenic dye called Sudan Red directly to the ducks. * http://www.china.org.cn/english/health/189567.htm

Chinese markets strike me as absolutely brutal. I mean, there is always some theft, fraud etc. in any market (one of the oldest written records of humanity is a customer complaint about bad copper sold by a certain Mesopotamian merchant called Ea-nasir in 1750 BC), but stuff like poisoning your customers with Sudan Red, or adding melamine to yoghurt, or frying food on gutter oil seems to always be reported from China…

Same goes with India as well. I have always wondered about this, may be it is the trade-off between getting caught and the sheer desperation to make money that tilts the moral compass to act in unethical ways.

Re: Why are some egg yolks so orange?

#54

Post by joeman1000 »

nigerian1981 wrote: post #51
inglor_cz wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Chinese markets strike me as absolutely brutal. I mean, there is always some theft, fraud etc. in any market (one of the oldest written records of humanity is a customer complaint about bad copper sold by a certain Mesopotamian merchant called Ea-nasir in 1750 BC), but stuff like poisoning your customers with Sudan Red, or adding melamine to yoghurt, or frying food on gutter oil seems to always be reported from China…

The fake Chinese eggs were the high point for me

Just read about those [1]. I was struck that the ingredients were similar to what’s in Gaviscon:

- Sodium alginate

- Calcium carbonate

[1]: https://www.myrecipes.com/extracrispy/fake-chinese-eggs-are-...

Re: Why are some egg yolks so orange?

#55

Post by itsoktocry »

ryanmercer wrote: post #46
dzhiurgis wrote: post #35

I'm a sucker for premium orange yolk eggs. My partner is sucker for buying eggs from a guy who grows them in his backyard. Sometimes, especially when making creamy scrambled eggs I can almost taste fishy or shellfish flavour (not something I like). We are based in NZ and I've heard people use sea shells as a source of calcium for hens, but I find hard to believe that it could be it.

The "fishy" taste is likely indicative of a higher omega 3 content, you get the same taste from 100% grass fed and finished beef and buffalo due to the higher omega 3 content.

Omega-3 doesn't taste like fish unless it's literally fish oil, which is often an additive to improve the 3-6 ratio of foods. Flax seed doesn't taste like fish...

Grass fed beef tasting "fishy"? I've never experienced that and can't imagine how it would work.

Re: Why are some egg yolks so orange?

#56

Post by verve_rat »

dzhiurgis wrote: post #41
madaxe_again wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not fresh is an understatement in many parts of the world. In the U.K., it’s up to 60 days - and in the U.S., it’s common for eggs in grocery stores to have been laid 6 months previously.

I always think how come eggs can stay so fresh so long? Is there any other "whole" protein that stays fresh so long?

When you are trying to have babies, having them go off is a bit counter productive.

Re: Why are some egg yolks so orange?

#57

Post by TecoAndJix »

I got five chickens last year and now have more eggs then I know what to do with (so we give a lot away). Everyone that has them says they are so much better and I have wondered if that is just due to them being able to see the chickens and their home. It is near impossible to hard boil the eggs they lay because the “membrane” (layer between the shell and egg-stuff) is so thick. The yolk is a darker yellow as well. I feed them mid-priced crumbles from tractor supply and give them scraps maybe once per week.

Re: Why are some egg yolks so orange?

#58

Post by nemo44x »

tacticaldev wrote: post #25

Just another example of how Organic (clean food) propaganda isn't based in science. I can't tell you how often I hear cooks swear by their redish, darkwe yolk eggs for having some kind of magic properties. Interesting article, good read.

I’d probably use the term “marketing” rather than “propaganda”.

Re: Why are some egg yolks so orange?

#59

Post by sethammons »

I don't know. I raise chickens. The only difference I've been able to determine between darker and lighter yolks are the age of the eggs. Same food for all the birds. If we don't go through the eggs fast enough, they go from orange to yellow. I'm not saying you can't fake it with additives, but the post must be missing something.

Re: Why are some egg yolks so orange?

#60

Post by h2odragon »

thom wrote: post #21
madaxe_again wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not fresh is an understatement in many parts of the world. In the U.K., it’s up to 60 days - and in the U.S., it’s common for eggs in grocery stores to have been laid 6 months previously.

I get nauseous eating most store bought eggs, and it took me years and a couple of Reddit threads to realise this was the reason, as opposed to an allergy or whatever. Buying fresh I never have a problem.

I got whanging deadly headaches whenever i ate store / commercial eggs; I got chickens and discovered that its not actually the eggs thats the problem for me:

If i feed my chickens non-medicated feed, I'm able to enjoy their eggs. If i get them the feed with amoxicillin in it, headaches.

The wild thing is amoxicillin itself never seemed to have any bad side effect on me, I've done several courses of it over the years without trouble.

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