# 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:** 2
**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, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-eggs-meat/341857/21 "2006-01-27T20:16:42Z")
> [@bouv](#): > > 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? Well yeah but…the eggs we eat aren’t fertilized. They’re going to stay eggs no matter what. And while you are consuming…err…half of however many chromosomes it takes to make a chicken…the overwhelming majority of the substance you are eating when you’re eating an egg is the chicken food. Chicken placenta essentially. Not actual chicken. Regardless of what it was intended to be. As for partially developed birds…then that’s bird flesh. So, yeah that would be meat. It occures to me, maybe if the dairy comparision doesn’t work, it’s more like a blow job. And we’ve already had threads on why vegetarians think it’s ok to swallow 🙂 . ---
**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, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-eggs-meat/341857/22 "2006-01-27T20:22:26Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > Oh my gawd! Tortillas are meat?! 😃 HA! Um, actually, tortillas are made with lard, so technically… ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2006, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-eggs-meat/341857/23 "2006-01-27T20:30:41Z")
[QUOTE=bouv] :smack: I mean to add: Eggs come from a bird’s cloaca, IIRC. It is in no way a dairy product. Not even close. > [@](#): > > Strictly speaking, you’re right, but eggs do have a long historical association with dairy products, chiefly because the milkmen of yore used to deliver eggs along with the milk. Perhaps this erroneous association is reinforced today by the color–most chicken eggs are white, just like milk. > > > [@](#): > > > > It’s a meat, you’re eating a part of an animal. > > Nutritionally I agree that an egg is basically meat, but I wouldn’t call it a “part of the bird”. Meat is something you have to kill the animal to get, which isn’t the case with eggs. > > > [@WhyNot](#): > > > > It’s a meat, you’re eating a part of an animal. So then, livers, kidneys, and the like aren’t meat? ---
**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, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-eggs-meat/341857/24 "2006-01-27T21:00:14Z")
> [@Spectre of Pithecanthropus](#): > > So then, livers, kidneys, and the like aren’t meat? Of course they are, they’re muscle fibers - smooth muscle, but muscle nonetheless. (Runs to check anatomy book…the three types of muscle…striated, smooth, cardiac, …digestive tract…) Yep, smooth muscles lining internal organs. Meat! ---
**Author:** ![yBeayf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/e274bd/32.png) [@yBeayf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yBeayf)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2006, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-eggs-meat/341857/25 "2006-01-27T21:05:57Z")
According to Orthodox Christian dietary regulations, eggs are dairy. ---
**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, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-eggs-meat/341857/26 "2006-01-27T21:11:59Z")
> [@yBeayf](#): > > According to Orthodox Christian dietary regulations, eggs are dairy. Them christians sure got some odd cows. ---
**Author:** ![Charger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df788c/32.png) [@Charger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charger)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2006, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-eggs-meat/341857/27 "2006-01-27T22:59:07Z")
> [@Winston Smith](#): > > I thought margerine _is_ dangerous to eat. 😉 Doesn’t a lot of it contain hydrogenated vegetable oils, which causes the body to manufacture cholesterol? Cadbury eggs definitely aren’t meat. So anyone trying to cut down on meat should stock up on Cadbury eggs. ---
**Author:** ![the\_PC\_apeman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ac8455/32.png) [@the\_PC\_apeman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_PC_apeman)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2006, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-eggs-meat/341857/28 "2006-01-27T23:36:41Z")
> [@bouv](#): > > … > And what of cultures that eat partially developed bird-eggs? WOuld you claim those are more like milk or meat? [Balut](http://www.thewilyfilipino.com/blog/archives/000076.html) ? Oh man. That’s enough to put you off eggs for weeks. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2006, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-eggs-meat/341857/29 "2006-01-28T01:05:51Z")
> [@ThePCapeman](#): > > [Balut](http://www.thewilyfilipino.com/blog/archives/000076.html) ? Oh man. That’s enough to put you off eggs for weeks. I never ate balut (too much a pussy) but I often ate penoy. I was told it was like balut, but no embryo. Tasted a lot like boiled egg to me. I was usually full of local rum or San Miguel at the time, so I’m not real sure what it was. It was good, though. Also good was the BBQ seagull. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![yBeayf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/e274bd/32.png) [@yBeayf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yBeayf)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2006, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-eggs-meat/341857/30 "2006-01-28T20:20:28Z")
> [@](#): > > Them christians sure got some odd cows. Look at it this way – baby cows drink milk before they are weaned. Baby chickens live off the yolk until they are “weaned”, i.e. eat solid food after hatching. In both cases the milk/yolk is meant to nourish the baby animal, and don’t require killing a living being, so they’re classed together as the same “type” of food. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2006, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-eggs-meat/341857/31 "2006-01-28T22:02:45Z")
> [@yBeayf](#): > > Look at it this way – baby cows drink milk before they are weaned. Baby chickens live off the yolk until they are “weaned”, i.e. eat solid food after hatching. In both cases the milk/yolk is meant to nourish the baby animal, and don’t require killing a living being, so they’re classed together as the same “type” of food. The point of my sloppy attempt at humor was that dairy comes only from cows, so if _eggs_ come from cows (which would validate them as dairy), the cows must be, er, unusual. Warning: If you’re feeling around for eggs back there on a large bovine animal, you best be real sure it is a cow and not a bull. Otherwise you’ll get hurt, or make a friend for life. Maybe both! ---
**Author:** ![Regardie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Regardie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Regardie)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2006, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-eggs-meat/341857/32 "2006-01-29T00:49:34Z")
Damn good question. It doesn’t have to be meat or dairy-its egg. I think its next to the milk becuase it needs refridgeration. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2006, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-eggs-meat/341857/33 "2006-01-29T01:14:16Z")
Fertile eggs are pretty popular hereabouts. Definitely meat. Catholics don’t think fish is meat. Imagine that. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![fluiddruid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@fluiddruid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fluiddruid)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2006, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-eggs-meat/341857/34 "2006-01-29T01:33:55Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > …margarine is only one molecule away from plastic… [In the interest of fighting ignorance.](http://www.snopes.com/food/warnings/butter.asp) ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2006, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-eggs-meat/341857/35 "2006-01-29T01:59:04Z")
> [@fluiddruid](#): > > [In the interest of fighting ignorance.](http://www.snopes.com/food/warnings/butter.asp) To expand (sort of) on the above, I remember [this](http://www.old-time.com/commercials/delrich_margarine.html). Mom would “let” me squish the bag. I was five in 1950 when the yellow margarine ban was pretty much lifted. I think Nucoa becam the elite margarine as I got older. So, is margarine dairy? ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2006, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-eggs-meat/341857/36 "2006-01-29T14:53:12Z")
> [@mangeorge](#): > > Eggs are meat. Ask any pro-lifer. > Peace, > mangeorge It’s not a choice, it’s a chick! Except for that whole “they’re not fertilized” thing. ---
**Author:** ![yBeayf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/e274bd/32.png) [@yBeayf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yBeayf)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2006, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-eggs-meat/341857/37 "2006-01-29T15:44:16Z")
> [@](#): > > dairy comes only from cows What about goats, yaks, horses, and buffalo? ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2006, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-eggs-meat/341857/38 "2006-01-29T16:28:15Z")
> [@yBeayf](#): > > What about goats, yaks, horses, and buffalo? Yeah. Goat cows, yak cows, horse cows, and buffalo cows. All of which lactate. None of which lay eggs. Few of which exhibit their wares in my local market. Leave me alone. I’m pondering the morality of marketing fertile eggs. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![betenoir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/258eb7/32.png) [@betenoir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/betenoir)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2006, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-eggs-meat/341857/39 "2006-01-29T20:31:07Z")
> [@Regardie](#): > > I think its next to the milk becuase it needs refridgeration. Not according to the United Kingdom. (Just throwing that in there.) ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2006, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-eggs-meat/341857/40 "2006-01-29T20:59:46Z")
> [@mangeorge](#): > > Catholics don’t think fish is meat. Imagine that. 😛 Well, the original dietary laws within the Church regarding abstinence referred specifically to “flesh meat” and indicated the muscle of warm-blooded animals (even though there was not yet a scientific description of endothermy). While there was not yet a “scientific” identification of “warm blooded,” people were smart enough to recognize that animals were not all alike. Cold-blooded critters such as turtles, frogs, lizards, snakes, and, of course, fish, were all outside the proscribed animals for Friday abstinence in many jurisdictions. (Dietary rules differed from province to province (and sometimes diocese to diocese) for the first several hundred years and most of the Eastern Rites (both Orthodox and Catholic) continue to have somewhat different rules than the Roman Catholics.) The Roman Catholics do not consider eggs to be dairy, but then, the Roman rite does not have dietary laws regarding dairy products, so it is not an issue, there. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-eggs-meat/341857.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-eggs-meat/341857.md?page=3)