Not all chicken yolks look the same. Some are pale yellow, while some are so orange that they border on red.
But what does that mean? We are yolk Like lettuce, where darker color indicates more nutrients?
Fox News Digital spoke to an egg expert to solve the case.
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Lisa Steele, a cookbook author and backyard chicken expert, told Fox News Digital that the color of a chicken's yolk “depends entirely on the hen's diet.”
Steele, who lives in Maine, is the founder of Fresh Eggs Daily, a website about raising chickens. She is also a book author “The Everyday Fresh Egg Cookbook.”
Chicken egg yolks come in a range of colors, from bright yellow to dark orange. (Istock)
“Foods high in xanthophyll and carotene, which are basically pigments called carotenoids, will darken the skin nicely. Orange egg yolk“, she said.
She said that carotene is found in orange-colored foods, such as carrots, mangoes, cantaloupes and pumpkins.
Xanthophyll can be found in green leafy vegetables, such as spinach and kale.
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But while a darker egg yolk doesn't mean the chicken is eating a nutritious, organic or fresh diet, “there is likely an association, because foods containing the pigment are also full of other nutrients.”
However, feed companies and commercial egg farms have discovered workarounds to achieve darker egg yolks without these solutions Foods rich in nutrients” Steele said.
An expert said that the color of the yolk depends entirely on the diet of the hen. A diet containing more carotenoids and xanthophylls will produce darker yolks. (Istock)
These companies “got smart and realized that consumers wanted to see bright orange yolks, so they would add things like amaranth, paprika, kelp, corn (and) alfalfa to artificially enhance the color of the yolk,” she said.
To guarantee Most nutritious Eggs Possible, Steele suggests customers look for specific labels on cartons at the grocery store.
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Chickens raised on pasture or “free range” typically lay eggs with darker, more orange-colored yolks, “because their diet consists primarily of grasses, weeds and other plants,” Steele said.
She said it's important to note that “cage-free” and “pasture-raised” are not the same thing.
One expert said chickens with access to the outdoors usually have a more varied diet and produce darker egg yolks. (Istock)
Pasture-raised eggs are the “gold standard,” Steele told Fox News Digital, noting that some “cage-free” chickens may still be living out their lives in a warehouse.
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Eggs from Pasture-raised chickens They have less cholesterol and more nutrients, Steele said, because of their healthier, more varied diet.
The yolk isn't the only thing that comes in different colors.
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The shells also vary.
Unlike the yolk, the color of the shell has nothing to do with the nutritional value of the egg, Steele said.
The color of the eggshell has nothing to do with the nutritional value of the egg. (Yuliy Zozulya/Ukrinform/Future Publishing via Getty Images)
The color “completely depends on the breed of chicken,” Steele said.
“Some chickens have brown pigment, some have blue pigment and some have none.”
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This is not an egg yolk.
