Why do you get blood spots in eggs?

Answer 1

What causes blood spots in eggs?

Blood spots are also called meat spots. Occasionally found on an egg yolk. Contrary to popular opinion, these tiny spots do not indicate a fertilized egg. Rather, they are caused by the rupture of a blood vessel on the yolk surface during formation of the egg or by a similar accident in the wall of the oviduct. Less than 1% of all eggs produced have blood spots.

Mass candling methods reveal most eggs with blood spots and those eggs are removed but, even with electronic spotters, it is impossible to catch all of them. As an egg ages, the yolk takes up water from the albumen to dilute the blood spot so, in actuality, a blood spot indicates that the egg is fresh. Both chemically and nutritionally, these eggs are fit to eat. The spot can be removed with the tip of a knife, if you wish.

Blood spots are more commonly found in brown eggs. The reason is two-fold. Firstly, the genetics of brown birds predisposes them to lay more eggs with blood spots in them. Secondly, during the candling procedure, the brown shell of the egg appears to have a red tint to it, which makes the task of looking for a red spot behind it extremely difficult.

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Answer 2

Brown eggs are more difficult to candle...candling is done on the production line and the brown color on the outside of the egg makes it more difficult to spot the defects inside. White eggs are more popular with consumers for home use and they are easier to candle. The food industry prefers brown eggs as the shell color makes it easy to spot errant bits of shell when used in recipes, blood spots are ignored by most chefs as they disappear when cooked and make no difference in the quality of the food.