# Blood speck on eggs?



## oldramon (Nov 11, 2008)

i did not eat any eggs, though i once saw a cracked egg, with what appeared to be blood in it.  is that common ?  does that mean that particular egg was fertilized, while the others were not ?  

i do not tolerate eggs to well, it seems to cause a physical reaction when i'm given something that has them cooked, and not cooked quite a certain way, it causes a great deal of indigestive gas.  i'm ok with not eating them though i do find that many things i do like to eat, have them, and i'm not sure why, but i'd never want to use a egg that had blood in it, i'm nuts that way, because i'm a meat eater too.  if i had to hunt and fish for food, i'd die.


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## CharlieD (Nov 11, 2008)

It usually happens with organic eggs. But even the it is not very common. some times you will see just like few dots of blood, some times more. Not so common in regular plain old white eggs that you buy in the store. Though it does happens. Sometimes you will see a huge blood clot. No big deal.


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## QUEEN-GUINEVERE (Nov 11, 2008)

Contrary to popular opinion and belief, the “blood” you see on an egg yolk _does __not mean it is a fertilized egg_, or that it is the “start” of a chicken, or that it is the “heart” in development, or any other story one may have heard. 

The science of it: What this happens to be is a ruptured blood vessel on the surface of the yolk during the formation of the egg, or by some similar accident in the wall of the ova duct (the duct by which the egg travels out of the bird). Of the cha-zillions of eggs produced, less than ONE PERCENT of the produced eggs have this! Quite a low amount. The color of the egg shell or if the egg is organic or not, has absolutely NO bearing as to where you may find more or less of these blood spots. As an egg ages, the yolk takes up water from the albumin to dilute the blood, so in actuality, the blood spot means that the egg is FRESH. 

Chemically and nutritionally, these eggs are fine to eat. If the blood spot offends you, it can be removed with the tip of a sharp knife before using it, but there definitely is no need to toss it out.

As far as you feeling ill when eating eggs, you could very well have an allergy to them. THAT is VERY common, and you may do yourself a great favor by seeing an allergist and be tested for this, just to make sure, either way.


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## ChefJune (Nov 11, 2008)

often that means it is a fertile egg... but not always.


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## JoeV (Nov 11, 2008)

QUEEN-GUINEVERE said:


> Contrary to popular opinion and belief, the “blood” you see on an egg yolk _does __not mean it is a fertilized egg_, or that it is the “start” of a chicken, or that it is the “heart” in development, or any other story one may have heard.
> 
> The science of it: What this happens to be is a ruptured blood vessel on the surface of the yolk during the formation of the egg, or by some similar accident in the wall of the ova duct (the duct by which the egg travels out of the bird). Of the cha-zillions of eggs produced, less than ONE PERCENT of the produced eggs have this! Quite a low amount. The color of the egg shell or if the egg is organic or not, has absolutely NO bearing as to where you may find more or less of these blood spots. As an egg ages, the yolk takes up water from the albumin to dilute the blood, so in actuality, the blood spot means that the egg is FRESH.
> 
> ...



Thanks for the science lesson. I thrive on detail, and your explanation had me captivated. I enjoy learning how things work together, and not just to have it explained that they do.

I spent my summers on a family friend's farm, and we would see this show up periodically (us kids picked the eggs daily and dispatched chickens for Sunday dinner. No big deal when you're raised as a hunter & fisherman). My Mother would would get concerned, but her friend who lived on the farm would just say "_spoon it out if you don't like it Lizzy. It won't kill ya!_" Surprisingly, it didn't kill any of us.


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## BreezyCooking (Nov 11, 2008)

Queen Guinevere is right on the mark!!  Blood spots on eggs have absolutely nothing to do with fertilization.  (Chef June - fertilization won't show itself as a blood spot; it'll show as radial bloodlines, sort of like a bloodshot eye).

It's extremely extremely rare to ever come across blood spots in commercial store eggs because the commercial egg producers "candle" them.  This involves passing each egg before a very bright light to detect abnormalities like blood spots, double yolks, etc., & remove them before they reach the store.  Even though harmless, the American public wants consistency - lol!

Outside of when I raised my own egglayers, the only time I've come across blood spots is when I buy eggs from the farmers' market.


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## CharlieD (Nov 11, 2008)

QUEEN-GUINEVERE said:


> ... _does __not mean it is a fertilized egg_, ...
> 
> if the egg is organic or not, has absolutely NO bearing as to where you may find more or less of these blood spots...




   I absolutely agree with the first statement and have my reservation about the second one. Most likely Breeze is correct about farmer's market eggs and commercial checking of the eggs. So let's substitute the word organic with word non-commercial in my post and then we both will be right. Even though a lot of times eggs bought at the farmers market ar marketed as organic.


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## larry_stewart (Nov 11, 2008)

The eggs from my chickens occasionally have these spots.  Other than the visual, they function the same as other ' spotless' eggs.


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## CharlieD (Nov 11, 2008)

larry_stewart said:


> The eggs from my chickens occasionally have these spots.  Other than the visual, they function the same as other ' spotless' eggs.




Not if you keep kosher they don't.


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## QUEEN-GUINEVERE (Nov 11, 2008)

JoeV said:


> Thanks for the science lesson. I thrive on detail, and your explanation had me captivated. I enjoy learning how things work together, and not just to have it explained that they do.


 
Glad you enjoyed it, JoeV!  I just LOVE science! (guess that's why both my professions were science related!)

Also enjoyed your childhood memoir!  In our family, ALL the men were the hunters and ALL the women were the "cleaner upper's" of their catch!  Even the youngsters were involved!  I used to HATE fall, dreading hunting season, and would wish the days away when I would see my Dad and brothers bring out the bows, arrows, tips, guns, ammo, tents, etc.  Yuck!  I can still _see _it and _smell _it, even tho it has been decades!

Breezy, you are correct about the lights....forgot about those and glad you posted that info! Lately, I've been seeing more TRIPLE yolks than doubles or even the blood spots!  Those are always fun to find!

This was a fun thread!  Educational, too!
I spent my summers on a family friend's farm, and we would see this show up periodically (us kids picked the eggs daily and dispatched chickens for Sunday dinner. No big deal when you're raised as a hunter & fisherman). My Mother would would get concerned, but her friend who lived on the farm would just say "_spoon it out if you don't like it Lizzy. It won't kill ya!_" Surprisingly, it didn't kill any of us. [/quote]


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## QUEEN-GUINEVERE (Nov 11, 2008)

CharlieD said:


> Not if you keep kosher they don't.


 
You need a kosher animal in order to get a kosher egg, and an egg from a kosher bird that has blood spots is not kosher.  You are bringing religion into this topic, CharlieD.  That is the _only_ difference. It has absolutely _nothing _to do with taste, nutritional value, function in a recipe, or chemically that it will harm you.


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## CharlieD (Nov 11, 2008)

I think it is you who is bringing religion in this thread. 

All I said "Not if you keep kosher they don't", I don't see what the problem. Who ever cares about such thing will know. Maybe that is exactly why the original person ask the original question to begin with. Did you think about that?

And, No, it doesn't the affect taste, so what.


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## attie (Nov 11, 2008)

Note :- Don't read this at 6.30 in the morning when you are planing breakfast, especially when you notice that the scotch bottle is empty 

Vegemite on toast now sounds pretty good.


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## brjam (Nov 11, 2008)

I'm not sure about blood specks.  I mean after all, there is blood in meat!
Once cooked I see no difference.  Which brings me to another question.

I still don't understand about eggs in cookie batter. If the cookie batter sets out for 2 days and is considered bad. What if you cook it? I mean what can a bad egg inside a batter do to you after it's cooked?


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## PieSusan (Nov 11, 2008)

CharlieD said:


> Not if you keep kosher they don't.


 
I was just going to say that. I always toss eggs when I see a blood spot and I do not keep kosher. Just the idea of eating an egg like that repulses me.

And to be fair, I see this as a cleanliness issue.


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## RobsanX (Nov 11, 2008)

brjam said:


> I'm not sure about blood specks.  I mean after all, there is blood in meat!
> Once cooked I see no difference.  Which brings me to another question.
> 
> I still don't understand about eggs in cookie batter. If the cookie batter sets out for 2 days and is considered bad. What if you cook it? I mean what can a bad egg inside a batter do to you after it's cooked?



The way I understand it, bacteria excrete toxins as they feed on your food. So even if you kill the bacteria by cooking, the toxins still remain.


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## Claire (Nov 13, 2008)

I loved this one.  My mom, who grew up raising eggs, used to tell me it was a fertilized egg and toss it, which in later years I found funny realizing that there are cultures that actually like eggs with a partially formed chick in them.  I doubt anyone who ever was truly hungry threw away an egg with a speck of blood in it.  The fact is, I cannot remember the last time I even saw one!  It is like eggs with double yolks, you just don't see them as often as you used to.  It was almost like good luck in our family.  "Look Girls!!! Twins!"  

Thanks, Guinevere, for the lesson ... I really have always been curious.


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## BreezyCooking (Nov 14, 2008)

Yuck.  I believe Andrew Zimmern on his "Bizarre Foods" show dined on partially developed duck eggs on one of his episodes.  I had to look away.

That said, back when I was just a little sprout growing up on Long Island, NY, a local gentleman farmer had an "egg route", & one time mom cracked an egg into the breakfast skillet & a partially developed chick fell out.  Turned her off cracking eggs into a pan for quite a awhile after that - lol!


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## JoeV (Nov 14, 2008)

BreezyCooking said:


> Yuck.  I believe Andrew Zimmern on his "Bizarre Foods" show dined on partially developed duck eggs on one of his episodes.  I had to look away.



Andrew is truly one of a kind. I have eaten a lot of unusual foods, but some of what he puts in his mouth just aint right. I wonder if he does that because he can't find a real job?


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## CharlieD (Nov 24, 2008)

JoeV said:


> Andrew ... does that because he can't find a real job?



I have to agree, he is a nut.


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