I don't think I'll be eating eggs any more!!

[chocolateequinox]

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-52838747

I'm already vegetarian so not eating eggs would be something I could do easily.

@Mrsmorton eggs cost pennies! You'd really scoop up a cracked egg and take it back to asda to complain it was fertilised rather than just chuck it and crack another one

@fuckinghellthisshit

Are you serious? How can adults not know that eggs are often fertilised? I am literally stunned. And now some of you are going to stop eating them? Why?

You know that little red speck you sometimes see in the yolk when you crack an egg? Now you know what it is.

(And yes, I can believe the "embryo at slightly later stage in development" story. Used to be slightly more common when I was a kid - looser food standards, or perhaps more genuinely free range eggs.)

@Reedshoes

🤢 good god nearly just brought up my breakfast 🍳

Why?

So it's a red speck? I often wondered what that was but never stopped cooking to Google it.

I love eggs but don't understand why vegetarians deem them ok?

Because eggs aren’t the actual bodies of animals, and eggs can be collected without any harm or suffering. Personally as a veggie I can’t say that I won’t eat eggs because they are present in so many foods as an ingredient, but I don’t buy supermarket eggs and I don’t like eating eggs even from the lovely farm shop we have have locally where you can see how well all the chickens are treated. I always think of eggs as being like chicken period so they’re just not an appealing thing to eat, unlike cake, so I do use farm shop eggs as ingredients.

You know that little red speck you sometimes see in the yolk when you crack an egg? Now you know what it is.

It's a blood spot. Nothing to do with fertilisation.

So it's a red speck? I often wondered what that was but never stopped cooking to Google it.

No. It's not. A red speck is just a blood spot.

i've just read that blood spots are usually due to a rupture in the chickens reproductive tract during egg formation and it is not due to being a fertilized egg and the meat spot is tissue that is picked up in in the oviduct during egg formation. it is NOT due to fertilized eggs.

@NailsNeedDoing

I love eggs but don't understand why vegetarians deem them ok?

Because eggs aren’t the actual bodies of animals, and eggs can be collected without any harm or suffering. Personally as a veggie I can’t say that I won’t eat eggs because they are present in so many foods as an ingredient, but I don’t buy supermarket eggs and I don’t like eating eggs even from the lovely farm shop we have have locally where you can see how well all the chickens are treated. I always think of eggs as being like chicken period so they’re just not an appealing thing to eat, unlike cake, so I do use farm shop eggs as ingredients.

What about all the chicks who are gassed/crushed/ground to death for the egg industry? Even lovely farms are disposing of the male chicks aren't they?

In some parts of East Asia there's a dish called Balut. I know this because a family friend from that part of the world used to tell me about it. This is why I don't eat eggs and haven't for the past 30 years.
That said, I do have chickens as pets and obviously the rest of my family happily eat the eggs. They're not fertile as we don't have a cockral.

If we’re going to draw an analogy with humans eating meat is like murder but eating fertilised eggs is like an abortion. It’s not like the egg can feel pain because it’s been fertilised.

What about all the chicks who are gassed/crushed/ground to death for the egg industry? Even lovely farms are disposing of the male chicks aren't they?

THIS

I cannot understand how anyone could be a vegetarian on ethical grounds and still support the egg industry. Or the dairy industry for that matter, same situation for male calves.

How do people not know this? Or have the common sense to figure it out? It’s not a new thing.

So many dramatic reactions on here.

I used to eat loads of eggs until I saw the conditions they are kept in on many farms which can legally still declare them as free range. The article doesn't gross me out as it's surely pretty obvious, but I do buy from a neighbour whose chickens have a huge area to freely roam and are well looked after (but can't afford as many )

I started reading this thinking ‘well nothing will put me off my eggs’....

I can also confirm that the red spot can occur without fertilisation as I used to keep hens.

majority of eggs are not fertilized though

I mean I don't eat eggs because they squick me out full stop, but if you eat eggs why get the squick over them being fertilised or not, seems bizarre to me.

Yes that was my understanding @SandieCheeks hence the question.

I always think of eggs as being like chicken period so they’re just not an appealing thing to eat, unlike cake, so I do use farm shop eggs as ingredients.

So you won't eat a chickens period but you are okay for a chickens period to be mixed up into your cake....ok.....that makes sense.

Wonder if I'll have scrambled or poached chickens period today?

@minniebinnie

I love eggs but don't understand why vegetarians deem them ok?

Vegetarians have always eaten eggs. It's meat they don't eat.

Vegans don't eat eggs, dairy, any animal product, or wear leather etc

Two different sets of dietary habits.
And neither is a religion!

If you're vegetarian then I can see why it would put you off. But if you're eating meat anyways I don't see how this would make any difference.

@NailsNeedDoing

I love eggs but don't understand why vegetarians deem them ok?

Because eggs aren’t the actual bodies of animals, and eggs can be collected without any harm or suffering. Personally as a veggie I can’t say that I won’t eat eggs because they are present in so many foods as an ingredient, but I don’t buy supermarket eggs and I don’t like eating eggs even from the lovely farm shop we have have locally where you can see how well all the chickens are treated. I always think of eggs as being like chicken period so they’re just not an appealing thing to eat, unlike cake, so I do use farm shop eggs as ingredients.

Eh? You don't eat eggs because they're like chicken periods, but you will eat cake that contains so-called "chicken period" mixed with flour, sugar and butter?

I'm beginning think that a month on a mixed farm should be compulsory for every schoolchild.

The degree of estrangement from the countryside of the average person in the UK is staggering.