# Brown eggs vs white eggs **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [March 12, 2020, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brown-eggs-vs-white-eggs/849350 "2020-03-12T18:08:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Doyle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doyle/32/439_2.png) [@Doyle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doyle)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2020, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brown-eggs-vs-white-eggs/849350/1 "2020-03-12T18:08:20Z")
While signing in today someone had posed this very question. Their bottom line answer was there is no difference other than shell color. This is complete bullshit . The research department must have spent about 5 minutes researching this subject. My in-laws raised chickens for years and there is no comparison of taste between a brown and white shelled egg. I won’t eat white shelled eggs. My in-laws are now very old and and long past fighting off snakes, owls and hawks to save their hens. So, now I only buy cage free range fed eggs and they are quite a delight. The yolks are a brilliant gold, yet very fragile. So you had better be careful frying one. Cecil and his cronies don’t always know what they’re talking about. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2020, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brown-eggs-vs-white-eggs/849350/2 "2020-03-12T18:18:24Z")
Nope. No difference that I could tell. Depends on the breed. My grandmother in Poland lived on a farm with free range hens. White shelled eggs, brown shelled eggs – it didn’t matter. All were delicious and very “eggy.” And I’ve bought eggs from farmer’s markets (and have friends who raise chickens) with various colors of shells. The shell color tells me nothing about the taste of the egg. ---
**Author:** ![TheCuse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thecuse/32/2854_2.png) [@TheCuse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheCuse)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2020, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brown-eggs-vs-white-eggs/849350/3 "2020-03-12T18:21:27Z")
There is no difference as to which is more healthy. Difference in taste can be attributed to diet. I’ll take Cecil and his cronie’s opinion. And there are a lot of experts who have the same opinion. Like this article: > **[Brown vs. White Eggs — Is There a Difference?](https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/white-vs-brown-eggs#section3)** > > Brown eggs are often thought of as healthier and more natural than white eggs. This article explores the differences and whether one type is truly better. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2020, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brown-eggs-vs-white-eggs/849350/4 "2020-03-12T18:23:40Z")
> [@TheCuse](#): > > Difference in taste can be attributed to diet. This is the biggest factor, in my experience. At any grocery store, you can find both brown and white shelled eggs. I don’t believe for a second you can taste the difference between one or the other given a blind taste test. They taste _exactly_ the same: the same ol’ bland factory-farmed eggs you’re used to. ---
**Author:** ![Doyle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doyle/32/439_2.png) [@Doyle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doyle)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2020, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brown-eggs-vs-white-eggs/849350/5 "2020-03-12T18:29:45Z")
You gentlemen don’t know your eggs. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2020, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brown-eggs-vs-white-eggs/849350/6 "2020-03-12T18:30:57Z")
From the SD Archives: [What’s the difference between white eggs and brown eggs? - The Straight Dope](https://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2103/whats-the-difference-between-white-eggs-and-brown-eggs/) ---
**Author:** ![Jet\_Jaguar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jet_jaguar/32/3562_2.png) [@Jet\_Jaguar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jet_Jaguar)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2020, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brown-eggs-vs-white-eggs/849350/7 "2020-03-12T18:35:00Z")
We’ve raised chickens and found no difference in taste in our eggs, and they were all kept together so had identical diets. Shell color simply came down to the breed. ---
**Author:** ![Doyle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doyle/32/439_2.png) [@Doyle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doyle)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2020, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brown-eggs-vs-white-eggs/849350/8 "2020-03-12T18:37:05Z")
It’s not really a question of color, but of diet. This is my fault. I didn’t explain the difference. Free range eggs are much better. Don’t believe me, try it for yourself. ---
**Author:** ![Airk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de053/32.png) [@Airk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airk)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2020, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brown-eggs-vs-white-eggs/849350/9 "2020-03-12T18:41:45Z")
> [@Doyle](#): > > It’s not really a question of color, but of diet. This is my fault. I didn’t explain the difference. Free range eggs are much better. Don’t believe me, try it for yourself. This seems like quite a turnaround from “I won’t eat white shelled eggs”? ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2020, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brown-eggs-vs-white-eggs/849350/10 "2020-03-12T18:43:09Z")
> [@Doyle](#): > > You gentlemen don’t know your eggs. Your experience is tricking you. Different feeds and different breeds give different quality eggs. Because the premier fast laying, efficient feed converter chicken lays white eggs, that is the color of cheap supermarket eggs, and because of this again a lot of “cage free range fed” egg producers will stay away from even quality egg producing hens if they have white eggs. So someone with experience with only a limited range off egg producers can fool themselves into thinking there’s a one to one correspondence between shell color and quality, when in reality it’s only a slight correlation due to market perception. I just had some absolutely great eggs with a white shell from free range animals. Those where duck eggs though, but I wouldn’t have much trouble getting a top notch white chicken egg if I wanted to. Just find some from a good breed. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2020, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brown-eggs-vs-white-eggs/849350/11 "2020-03-12T18:43:30Z")
> [@Doyle](#): > > You gentlemen don’t know your eggs. Yes. Yes, we do. And now you’re backtracking to say “it’s not really a question of color, but of diet”? That’s not at all what you said in the title or the OP. And that is _exactly_ what the first two respondents to your posts said: it’s not egg color, but diet. Yet you respond with “you gentlemen don’t know your eggs.” :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![TheCuse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thecuse/32/2854_2.png) [@TheCuse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheCuse)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2020, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brown-eggs-vs-white-eggs/849350/12 "2020-03-12T18:52:32Z")
^^Beat me to it. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2020, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brown-eggs-vs-white-eggs/849350/13 "2020-03-12T18:55:13Z")
I wish poster **pullet** was still here, as our resident veterinarian who specialized in chickens. Having raised chickens at times and consumed both free range and factory eggs all my life, I too found flavor and color of the yolk to be due to diet, and to have nothing to do with shell coloration. I’ve had tasteless brown eggs and delicious white ones over the decades. The recent authoritative summary of all things eggy, **Egg Science & Technology, 4th edition 2017** states in its section about “shell quality” that there is no correlation between shell color and interior quality characteristics. That, combined with my own experience, settles the question for me. ---
**Author:** ![SuntanLotion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suntanlotion/32/16165_2.png) [@SuntanLotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanLotion)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2020, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brown-eggs-vs-white-eggs/849350/14 "2020-03-12T19:09:12Z")
They’re a lot harder to color for Easter ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2020, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brown-eggs-vs-white-eggs/849350/15 "2020-03-12T19:15:07Z")
> [@SuntanLotion](#): > > They’re a lot harder to color for Easter Nonsense. They’re pre-colored, as long as you’re OK with pastel shades of beige and taupe. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2020, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brown-eggs-vs-white-eggs/849350/16 "2020-03-12T19:15:21Z")
The OP is expressing eggism, pure and simple. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2020, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brown-eggs-vs-white-eggs/849350/17 "2020-03-12T19:16:29Z")
> [@gnoitall](#): > > Nonsense. They’re pre-colored, as long as you’re OK with pastel shades of beige and taupe. I actually do remember dying white eggs brown with onion skins for Easter as a kid. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2020, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brown-eggs-vs-white-eggs/849350/18 "2020-03-12T19:16:35Z")
Now duck eggs, on the other hand, are miles ahead of chicken eggs in taste no matter what the color. The success of a trip to my local farmers market is always determined by the (increasingly infrequent) availability of duck eggs. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2020, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brown-eggs-vs-white-eggs/849350/19 "2020-03-12T19:18:37Z")
The organic eggs my wife gets certainly have thinker shells that the mass market white eggs. I think that tells me something about their diet and how they’re treated. Not sure I notice a taste difference though. ---
**Author:** ![Doyle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doyle/32/439_2.png) [@Doyle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doyle)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2020, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brown-eggs-vs-white-eggs/849350/20 "2020-03-12T19:26:27Z")
OK, OK. I’ve been shamed. I made the mistake of equating brown eggs to free range fed eggs. In my experience, free range eggs have all been brown or green, never white. But there is a difference between white store bought eggs and brown free range eggs. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brown-eggs-vs-white-eggs/849350.md?page=2)