The Difference Between Eggs In The U.S. And The Rest Of The World

Skip to Main Content×Main MenuU.S. EditionNewsU.S. NewsWorld NewsBusinessEnvironmentHealthSocial JusticeCrimePoliticsCongressExtremismOpinionEntertainmentCulture & ArtsMediaCelebrityTV & FilmBooksLifeWellnessTravelTechStyle & BeautyFood & DrinkParentingRelationshipsMoneyHome & LivingWork/LifeShoppingVoicesBlack VoicesQueer VoicesLatino VoicesIndigenous VoicesAsian VoicesWomen's VoicesHuffPost PersonalFor Our PartnersRemember ThisThe Magic WithinPremium PicksLuxury Wish ListNEW: GamesHoroscopesVideoNewslettersInternationalU.S.U.K.EspañaFranceΕλλάδα (Greece)Italia日本 (Japan)한국 (Korea)Follow UsTerms | Privacy PolicyPart of HuffPost Food & Drink. ©2025 BuzzFeed, Inc. All rights reserved.×What's Hot NEWSPOLITICSENTERTAINMENTLIFESHOPPINGPERSONALVOICESGAMESLOADINGERROR LOADING

American eggs are often said to be inferior to those sold in the rest of the world ― their yolks are often paler and they require refrigeration because of the way they’re processed.

But how does the nutritional value of U.S. eggs compare with eggs in other countries?

The answer to that question is a convoluted one, dependent on a variety of factors that involve each country’s overall food production system and the number of people being fed by it.

Advertisement

That being said, a general answer is that mass-produced eggs in America are just as nutritious as mass-produced eggs in other countries. However, the scale of mass production in the United States is larger than elsewhere in the world. Here’s how it works and how it affects eggs.

Size and distance matter

The American food system is designed to feed a massive population of over 300 million people. Egg production is intricately related to the overall food system.

“The goal of egg production in large scale facilities is to get as many eggs produced in as short of a period of time as possible, get them onto refrigerated trucks and into warehouses where they’re redistributed to grocery stores,” explained Drake Patten, the owner of Hurricane Hill, a 48-acre conservation farm in Western Cranston, Rhode Island, that also produces eggs.

Advertisement

Not only is the U.S. home to a large number of people, but folks are spread across vast geographical areas. Food, therefore, needs to travel long distances.

Portland Press Herald via Getty Images

“That’s a lot of time for an egg” to travel, Patten explained. “In these high levels of production, the goal is to clean the eggs and keep them very cool.”

Advertisement

Given the number of chickens in each barn (close to 2,000 in some places, according to Patten), it is virtually impossible to check the health of every single bird, and many lay eggs with shells that become soiled.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture requires producers to wash eggs with warm water at least 20 degrees Fahrenheit warmer than the internal temperature of the eggs ― at a minimum of 90 degrees. That process cleans the shell, but also removes the exterior cuticle, “which is a natural barrier to bacteria and spoilage,” explained Michael Ruhlman, the author of food-related books, including ”Grocery: The Buying and Selling of Food in America.” Scouring off the shell’s protective layer means that mass-produced eggs in the United States must be refrigerated until usage.

In most European countries, washing eggs is illegal for producers, which is why the products aren’t refrigerated in supermarkets or homes.

Advertisement

Some American farmers, including Patten, skip the hot-wash.

“If you buy a supermarket egg and you get an egg from my farm, you boil it and then you want to crack it open, it’s incredibly hard to get the shell off [my] free-range eggs, but easy to get it off a store-bought egg,” Patten said. “That’s because there’s a really big air pocket in store-bought eggs.”

Mass production comes at a cost

There are a few aspects of mass production ― in the U.S. and elsewhere ― that influence the look and taste of eggs.

A chicken’s diet is of utmost importance. Generally, in large facilities, the animals are fed grain and given supplements and antibiotics.

Advertisement

Large farms “are not feeding them quality grain,” Patten said. “They’re feeding them cheap grain ― a lot of corn, a lot of things to just keep them producing.”

Ruhlman pointed out that yolk color “is determined by what the chicken is eating.” A high-quality diet “intensifies the nutrients in the eggs.”

To maximize production, most large producers keep barns lighted 24 hours a day, because chickens lay more eggs when exposed to greater light.

Advertisement

Access to the outdoors also affects eggs. “My birds are constantly getting a diverse diet,” Patten said, mentioning grains, greens and “the stuff that’s outside.”

“That’s going to make a more nutritious egg,” Patten said. A vitamin D supplement, for example, “is very different than going out in the sun.”

Andres Victorero via Getty Images

Advertisement

As a result of these practices, mass-produced eggs have paler yolks than those produced on smaller farms. “The deep yellow yolk is the most nutritious and richest flavor in the egg,” Patten explained. “And it is a very different color if you go to a random New York City diner and you get eggs. There, they’re kind of the color of hail, almost a yellow sticky color, like a legal pad color.”

Shell color is another difference between mass-produced eggs and those from small farms. Most people are used to seeing white or brown shells on supermarket shelves. Patten’s chickens produce a rainbow of hues.

“The breeds that have been bred historically to create the highest level of egg production are pretty boring, to be honest,” which is why white and brown eggs dominate, she explained. “You can literally get eggs that go from pink to olive green to chocolate brown. That just has to do with the breed.”

Advertisement

Do Europeans do it better?

“If it’s mass produced, it’s probably just as unhealthy as the mass produced food here in America,” Ruhlman said, explaining that differences in eggs between the United States and, say, Italy, are likely very few. However, “Europeans have access to higher quality food in general, if they want,” he said. That’s because the scale of mass production is smaller, and most people have greater access to small farmers.

“I wouldn’t say that a European egg is necessarily better,” Patten said. “But where that egg comes from, whether it’s in Europe or America, is likely to give you a better egg.”

Patten also mentioned the U.S. food regulatory system. “People do get sick,” she said. “In Europe that happens and [they] don’t have a draconian response to it. But Americans tend to change all the laws when one thing happens.” Hot-washing eggs during production was meant to prevent the development of salmonella, for example, but it may curtail nutrition.

Advertisement

Can we improve?

“Here’s the answer to how to have a good egg: Buy from your farmers market or local farm,” Patten said.

Of course, that isn’t an easy solution for all, given the vastness of the country and the distance to markets. “We also have food deserts in many of our big cities,” Patten said. “To change that, you’d really have to change industry practice, and that would require a pretty big sea change in American food thinking.”

Shopping at farmers markets is also generally pricier than the average supermarket.

All that taken into account, consumers can strive to be better simply by buying better food.

“I think the way to get better eggs is to buy better eggs,” Ruhlman said. “Because when we buy anything, we’re asking for more of it.”

Advertisement

Related

Food

Opinary Poll

Nutrition

farming

eggs

4 Food Bloggers Reveal How Much Money They Earn To Develop A Recipe10 Most-Loved Recipes People Cooked At Home In AprilThe Olive Chicken Recipe That Restored My Faith in CookingHere's Why You're Having A Hard Time Finding Eggs At The Grocery Store Go to HomepageLEAVE A COMMENTSuggest a correction|Submit a tip HuffPost Shopping'sBest FindsLoading...Newsletter Sign UpThe Good LifeA completely essential daily guide to achieving the good life.Successfully Signed Up!Realness delivered to your inbox

By entering your email and clicking Sign Up, you're agreeing to let us send you customized marketing messages about us and our advertising partners. You are also agreeing to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.

Close TRENDING IN Food & DrinkMORE IN LIFE