Inedible Egg Products
Original article here.
Even after reading this article about the big change in export rules for inedible egg products that occured in 1983, I still have no idea what these products are, or what they are used for.
Apparently, the baffling subject is still being thrashed out by the USDA thirty years later.
Comments
Google search turned up something from Egg Science and Technology - a book excerpt. I'll type it in here, it certainly helped me understand it.
"Most inedible eggs are derived from leakers, eggs with blood or meat spots, and egg white from centrifuged eggshells. The solids content of Inedible Egg Product may vary between that for egg white to whole egg. There are no standards for this product, except that it should be denatured, usually with a green dye. "
(Paraphrasing here) The company producing this 'waste product' doesn't make any money on it and usually has to PAY to dispose of it. So the "Inedible Egg Products are then usually frozen or dehydrated for use in animal foods."
"Most inedible eggs are derived from leakers, eggs with blood or meat spots, and egg white from centrifuged eggshells. The solids content of Inedible Egg Product may vary between that for egg white to whole egg. There are no standards for this product, except that it should be denatured, usually with a green dye. "
(Paraphrasing here) The company producing this 'waste product' doesn't make any money on it and usually has to PAY to dispose of it. So the "Inedible Egg Products are then usually frozen or dehydrated for use in animal foods."
Posted by Greg on 09/17/16 at 07:02 AM
Green dye heh? Maybe I will pass on the green eggs and ham.
Posted by Anne on 09/17/16 at 08:09 AM
Thanks, Greg. That sheds a little more light on the subject.
Posted by Paul on 09/17/16 at 09:13 AM
Weird, but we learned something today. Who knew there were such things as inedible eggs? Next you're going to tell me something weird about the bread I eat, right?
Posted by Greg on 09/17/16 at 12:46 PM
How about the shells? That would be an inedible leftover from the process that makes those scrambled eggs things in a carton. Or eggnog. That is, unless the shells are used in calcium supplements.
Posted by Virtual on 09/17/16 at 12:53 PM
Greg, quoting Egg Science and Technology, writes, "There are no standards for this product, except that it should be denatured, usually with a green dye."
The article, however, says, "These egg products have not been denatured - a process that makes them unsuitable for certain industrial...uses".
I wonder if one of those uses could be egg tempera, where dyeing the egg product might render it useless for any color other than a shade containing the same color.
The article, however, says, "These egg products have not been denatured - a process that makes them unsuitable for certain industrial...uses".
I wonder if one of those uses could be egg tempera, where dyeing the egg product might render it useless for any color other than a shade containing the same color.
Posted by Eoin on 09/17/16 at 08:21 PM
Remember the ads for "the incredible edible egg?" This is the "credible inedible egg."
Posted by ges on 09/17/16 at 10:52 PM
@Virtual -- A lot of egg shells are fed to the chickens who need a lot of calcium in their diet if they're going to keep producing at modern ag-industry levels.
I remember seeing bags of crushed egg shells in garden-supply shops. It's a gentle alternative to lime for adjusting soil pH.
I remember seeing bags of crushed egg shells in garden-supply shops. It's a gentle alternative to lime for adjusting soil pH.
Posted by Phideaux on 09/18/16 at 10:00 AM
Back in the 70s when the Egg Industry was fighting against the negative cholesterol coverage associated with eggs they hired an ad agency to improve the Egg's image. Thus was born "The Incredible Edible Egg" campaign -- which I sang as "The Incredible Inedible Egg."
Apparently, I was ahead of my time. (Or maybe sideways to my time)
Apparently, I was ahead of my time. (Or maybe sideways to my time)
Posted by fivecats on 09/18/16 at 10:55 AM
Eoin: you'd think so, wouldn't you? But tempera actually uses the yolk, not the white.
Posted by Richard Bos on 09/25/16 at 11:02 AM
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Category: Food | Eggs | 1980s | Twenty-first Century