# Are Eggs Meat? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 27, 2006, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-eggs-meat/341857 "2006-01-27T16:24:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Winston\_Smith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e95f7d/32.png) [@Winston\_Smith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Winston_Smith)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2006, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-eggs-meat/341857/1 "2006-01-27T16:24:42Z")
Specifically: Chicken Eggs. SmithWife claims they are in the _Dairy Group_, and cites the location of eggs in the Grocery Store as her evidence. ([The FDA groups eggs with meat, poultry, fish, dry beans and nuts](http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/Fpyr/pyramid.gif)). I guess all I’ve got to fall back on is _“Animal, Vegetable, or Mineral?”_. Eggs=Meat? I have a hard time swallowing that, so let’s det your opinions **fellow Dopers**. Maybe this belongs in **MPSIMS** , but I haven’t been able to get this off my mind all morning. ---
**Author:** ![Ca3799](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9f8e36/32.png) [@Ca3799](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ca3799)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2006, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-eggs-meat/341857/2 "2006-01-27T16:37:13Z")
Yes, they are a meat- they are liquid chicken! ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2006, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-eggs-meat/341857/3 "2006-01-27T16:38:54Z")
Mmmm…liquidy cows are scrumptious as well. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2006, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-eggs-meat/341857/4 "2006-01-27T16:43:18Z")
Just guessing but I suppose they are as much meat as hair is. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2006, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-eggs-meat/341857/5 "2006-01-27T16:49:40Z")
The FDA groups them with meat because, nutritionally, they are much like meat. That’s why nuts, including peanut butter, are also there. Philisophically, I could go either way. Yes, they are meat, because, if fertilized and left to their own devices, they contain all the building blocks that will re-arrange themselves into meat (and bones, and beaks). No, they are not meat, because meat specifically meat muscle fiber, either skeletal or organ. To say they are meat because they could become meat is to say margarine is only one molecule away from plastic, and therefore dangerous to eat. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2006, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-eggs-meat/341857/6 "2006-01-27T16:50:57Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > … because meat specifically meat muscle fiber, … …because meat specifically \*\*means \*\*muscle fiber… :smack: ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2006, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-eggs-meat/341857/7 "2006-01-27T16:51:58Z")
Eggs are meat. Ask any pro-lifer. Peace, mangeorge ---
**Author:** ![Winston\_Smith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e95f7d/32.png) [@Winston\_Smith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Winston_Smith)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2006, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-eggs-meat/341857/8 "2006-01-27T17:03:57Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > \margarine is only one molecule away from plastic, and therefore dangerous to eat. I thought margerine _is_ dangerous to eat. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2006, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-eggs-meat/341857/9 "2006-01-27T17:07:53Z")
> [@mangeorge](#): > > Eggs are meat. Ask any pro-lifer. > Peace, > mangeorge Like the joke: how was the chicken served at the pro-lifer dinner? Sunny side up! Haw haw haw! I don’t consider eggs to be meat. My justification? Most vegetarians are wiling to eat eggs, and if you don’t eat eggs, you’re well on your way to being vegan. Eggs, therefore, are a vegetable. Daniel ---
**Author:** ![betenoir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/258eb7/32.png) [@betenoir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/betenoir)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2006, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-eggs-meat/341857/10 "2006-01-27T17:10:37Z")
> [@Ca3799](#): > > Yes, they are a meat- they are liquid chicken! Well no, they’re liquid chicken food. At least 99.9% of what you find in an egg. I dunno, I guess if dairy means anything (what does it mean anyway?) it refers to a food produced by an animal to feed its child…so eggs would be closer to that than meat. ---
**Author:** ![zev\_steinhardt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/97f17d/32.png) [@zev\_steinhardt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zev_steinhardt)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2006, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-eggs-meat/341857/11 "2006-01-27T17:27:24Z")
FWIW, under _kashrus_ rules, eggs are not meat. Zev Steinhardt ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2006, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-eggs-meat/341857/12 "2006-01-27T17:48:48Z")
For what it’s worth 2, m-w’s definition of dairy doesn’t mention eggs. Further, their definition of meat does say, in part; > [@](#): > > b : the edible part of something as distinguished from its covering (as a husk or shell) Get it? Shell. Hah! Peace, mangeorge ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2006, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-eggs-meat/341857/13 "2006-01-27T18:07:52Z")
Dairy products are anything that is derived from the lactation secretions of a female mammel. ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2006, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-eggs-meat/341857/14 "2006-01-27T18:08:58Z")
:smack: I mean to add: Eggs come from a bird’s cloaca, IIRC. It is in no way a dairy product. Not even close. It’s a meat, you’re eating a part of an animal. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2006, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-eggs-meat/341857/15 "2006-01-27T19:01:21Z")
> [@zev\_steinhardt](#): > > FWIW, under _kashrus_ rules, eggs are not meat. > > Zev Steinhardt Nor are they dairy; thet are parve. ---
**Author:** ![Winston\_Smith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e95f7d/32.png) [@Winston\_Smith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Winston_Smith)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2006, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-eggs-meat/341857/16 "2006-01-27T19:03:06Z")
> [@bouv](#): > > Eggs come from a bird’s cloaca, IIRC. It is in no way a dairy product. Not even close. Well, then, Mr. Smarty-pants, can you explain why eggs are next to the milk and butter at the grocery store? Hmmm? :dubious: (Yes, I’m joking) ---
**Author:** ![betenoir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/258eb7/32.png) [@betenoir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/betenoir)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2006, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-eggs-meat/341857/17 "2006-01-27T19:19:29Z")
> [@bouv](#): > > It is in no way a dairy product. Not even close. It’s a meat, you’re eating a part of an animal. It’s not really part of an animal, anymore than milk is. I mean most of it. It may not be dairy but it’s closer in spirit than it is to meat…you’re eating baby chicken food. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2006, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-eggs-meat/341857/18 "2006-01-27T19:25:40Z")
> [@Winston Smith](#): > > I thought margerine _is_ dangerous to eat. 😉 Not really, just tastes nasty as hell. I prefer to have smaller amounts of real butter instead of a huge lashing of \ margarine. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2006, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-eggs-meat/341857/19 "2006-01-27T19:29:23Z")
> [@Winston Smith](#): > > Well, then, Mr. Smarty-pants, can you explain why eggs are next to the milk and butter at the grocery store? Hmmm? :dubious: > > (Yes, I’m joking) Oh my gawd! Tortillas are meat?! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2006, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-eggs-meat/341857/20 "2006-01-27T19:37:28Z")
> [@betenoir](#): > > It’s not really part of an animal, anymore than milk is. I mean most of it. It may not be dairy but it’s closer in spirit than it is to meat…you’re eating baby chicken food. I still think it’s closer to meat. A cup of milk will forever stay a cup of milk, a fertilized egg will become a chicken. So the egg’s purpose is really two-fold. Both to provide nurishment for the growing chicken, and to actually contain the cells that will becoem the chicken. And what of cultures that eat partially developed bird-eggs? WOuld you claim those are more like milk or meat? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-eggs-meat/341857.md?page=2)