How come we have suddenly started seeing more white eggs on the shop shelves?

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Ok-Pirate-6259@reddit

Sixty years ago all supermarket eggs were white. Different breeds produce different colour eggs.

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It’s the breed of hen that determines the shell colour. White Leghorns or hybrids containing the breed produce white eggs - we used to have one who was a prolific layer. It’s a trend at the moment to have eggs that are white, blue, dark brown etc which cost more than your average light brown shelled egg. I have a Maran hen who lays beautiful dark brown shelled eggs.
Yes brown eggs were probably seen as healthier like brown bread. But it’s just a pigment on the outside of the shell.

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clovenheart1066@reddit

I have to say, when i bought some eggs and they were white, i did send a pic to my family in shock.

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moose_knuckle01@reddit

I have a friend who works in eggs.

White eggs come from a different chicken which is less violent, smaller so more economical. The chickens that lay brown eggs peck at each other casting harm, however people associate higher quality eggs with being brown, so white eggs are being introduced slowly to get the Consumer market more comfortable with the idea of buying white eggs

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Able-Explanation7835@reddit (OP)

!answer I think you may have the answer! Makes a lot of sense. Just, tell me if this is a "Trust me, bro" moment or whether you have the real connections to Big Egg...? 😂

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moose_knuckle01@reddit

I actually do have a connection to big egg, my friend is strangely passionate about eggs and won't shut up about them when you get him started

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Able-Explanation7835@reddit (OP)

Awesome. Thank you for the answer. Makes sense and with excellent Providence! I would love to have a conversation with him. Emphasis on the 'A' though... 😂😂

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Apprehensive-Top3675@reddit

There’s been a persistent egg shortage over the past \~3 years, so the supermarkets have started buying white eggs, which normally go to restaurants and other food businesses.

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TossThisItem@reddit

I find it so weird. I genuinely prefer white eggs—they look more appetising to me.

Is it just me?

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Able-Explanation7835@reddit (OP)

Really? In the UK?? I must have missed that! How did I miss that?!?!?

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Emperors-Peace@reddit

If other countries have a shortage, we'll have a shortage (because we'll export more to countries that do.)

Also, bird flu and stuff probably.

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farraigemeansthesea@reddit

The UK imports around 75 per cent of eggs it consumes.

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frozenaisle@reddit

source?

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Not_Wrong_Tho@reddit

His ass.

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595659565956@reddit

His donkey told him?

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Not_Wrong_Tho@reddit

Thats about as credible of a source as any he'd get that statistic from, so sure.

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NortonBurns@reddit

Where did you make those number up from? 75% of statistics are made up on the spot dot com?

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/egg-statistics/quarterly-uk-statistics-about-eggs-statistics-notice-data-to-q4-2025 says it's less than 10%

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Not_Wrong_Tho@reddit

Not even remotely close.

https://www.egginfo.co.uk/egg-facts-and-figures/industry-information/data

The UK was about 89% self sufficient on eggs in 2025. We only imported 11% of the eggs we consumed.

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thelordwest@reddit

This is incorrect, it's more like 10% imported

https://www.egginfo.co.uk/egg-facts-and-figures/industry-information/data

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EldritchCleavage@reddit

As far as I know we do import most live eggs for breeding. I don’t know why.

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chrisrazor@reddit

Surely we don't export any of the eggs we consume??

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SillyWillyUK@reddit

That is a disgrace!

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excitablegibben@reddit

Have a look at the high court case for the future of the river Wye. Egg barns are part of a high polluting industry. We don't really want more here if we can import high quality eggs.

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No-Ask-3213@reddit

Why not have free range hens under all these solar farms? Win win, electricity and higher welfare food.

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NondescriptHaggard@reddit

Why not introduce legislation to increase pollution mitigation measures, rather than just sack it off and increase our dependence on food imports further.

We should be doing everything we can to increase our domestic food production for food security reasons, especially given we’re currently in an oil crisis that’s driving up transport costs.

Feels pretty scummy to just say “we’re rich, let’s just offshore our pollution to some other poor country”.

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Key_Nectarine5882@reddit

Liz! How have you been?

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GreatChaosFudge@reddit

I don’t accept the premise of your question.

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dommiichan@reddit

Lettuce assume the premise isn't Kwasi

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CulturedClub@reddit

Something Something cheese is a disgrace too

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Exozone@reddit

I think you need to get to China, open more egg future's up.

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YchYFi@reddit

We consume more than we produce.

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This-Willow-4655@reddit

I don't think that's true

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Siggi_Starduust@reddit

I do think it’s important to have a broad range of suppliers when it comes to basic foodstuffs.

You don’t want to keep all your eggs in the one basket.

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audigex@reddit

I really want to know how many people are actually maintaining multiple egg baskets in their home

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Siggi_Starduust@reddit

If they are anything like ‘forever bags’, I’d say at least a dozen.

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ColbysRevenge@reddit

Then what does the red lion mark mean? I thought all the eggs I saw in shops were British

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Wallygonk@reddit

If you put a percentage into any sentence people will believe you 78% of the time

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Evening-Web-3038@reddit

I personally export around 100 per cent of eggs I consume. And it's deadly...

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truckosaurus_UK@reddit

Indeed. There's been loads of bird flu going about the past few years but for some reason hasn't really made the news.

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Hot_Beef@reddit

UK egg demand has actually increased much faster than supply since COVID. I don't have a source to hand but I'm pretty sure it was in a recent economist article. Much of the white egg imports are from Ukraine so at least its going to a good cause.

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TheSecretIsMarmite@reddit

It started during COVID when there was a shortage of eggs in shops because everyone was baking at home or working out at home, and restaurants who don't really care about the colour of egg shells, were shut.

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jimmywhereareya@reddit

I'm the same, I was really surprised that the eggs I've bought recently were all white, but I'm alright with all white eggs 🤣

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KingForceHundred@reddit

White ones have been common for ages.

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Broad-Raspberry1805@reddit

I’ve only ever seen them at Lidl in the past 30 years

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OkCaterpillar8941@reddit

Same. I bought them for the novelty.

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gominokouhai@reddit

It started during covid, when you might have been distracted by the endless torrent of other shit that was going on.

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happyhippohats@reddit

You didn't miss it, you noticed it. You just didn't know what it meant.

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Dopamine_Dopehead@reddit

Had white eggs in the seventies.

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Conscious_Guess9637@reddit

It’s the only thing British people apparently prefer to be brown

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Hampshire-UK@reddit

As someone who paints red crosses on roundabouts on his days off i actually prefer them white

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Qpylon@reddit

Have you thought about changing it up and painting the eggs instead?

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Hampshire-UK@reddit

Look great with my morning gammon

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Prestigious_Leg7821@reddit

For years I assumed I was accidentally buying “fancy” Waitrose eggs as they were white - eventually I read the actual egg box…… “Waitrose economy white eggs”

Turns out they are always white

I did get white from Sainsbury’s in my last shop, but the box didn’t specify egg colour!

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QwanNyu@reddit

I absolutely hate white shelled eggs. They do t crack as well as brown ones.

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Pipeline_Rat@reddit

I don’t like white eggs either, but for a silly reason. I associate them with snake eggs…I blame the documentary I saw when I was 6 showing a baby snake emerging from its egg.

I don’t need white eggs to live a happy life and will be happy if I never saw one again.

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Appropriate-Bad-9379@reddit

…plus you can accidentally eat the shells ( blend in with the whites)…

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sparkles-pip@reddit

The hens that lay the white eggs have genetics that mean they can lay for longer. This means the farms can keep the flock longer - making them more sustainable from both an environmental and financial point of view.

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Ancient-Awareness115@reddit

White eggs seemed to suddenly get more popular during the pandemic

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Novel-Case6821@reddit

I feel an argument about which hens lay which colour shell eggs coming on. I'll eggscuse myself from that.

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boulder_problems@reddit

That's an oeuf now.

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thisisthisisp@reddit

Is this a yolk

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Exact-Put-6961@reddit

Eggsactly

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Domdadomdom@reddit

Fowl play!

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Mystic_L@reddit

This is my seggond egg pun thread in two clicks, eggcellent!

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Able-Explanation7835@reddit (OP)

I saw that post and it made me think of this question! A polling card?!?!? 😂😂 Of all the things!

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Busy-Department-6816@reddit

One egg is never an oeuf...Dave Myers 😊

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ukbot-nicolabot@reddit

OP marked this as the best answer, given by /u/moose_knuckle01.

I have a friend who works in eggs.

White eggs come from a different chicken which is less violent, smaller so more economical. The chickens that lay brown eggs peck at each other casting harm, however people associate higher quality eggs with being brown, so white eggs are being introduced slowly to get the Consumer market more comfortable with the idea of buying white eggs

^(What is this?)

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LookOverall@reddit

Do people find that white egg shells are more fragile and it’s harder to crack them without getting shell in the pan?

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-You_Cant_Stop_Me-@reddit

I want blue eggs to become the norm.

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PootMcGroot@reddit

A major factor is covid - eggs for catering are often still white, as they're often cheaper as they come from breeds of chickens with longer laying periods. The collapse of catering during covid meant they were reintroduced into the domestic home market (they were common 50 years agp.

A second factor is the other pandemic, bird flu - which left the mix of commercially laying birds skewed.

So blame viruses.

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soitspete@reddit

Yeah, during the pandemic, more people were baking and so egg demand went up, and simultaneously the restaurant egg market collapsed. And so supermarkets bought up that surplus.

British customers expected brown eggs, and so that's what supermarkets bought; and you don't see the shells at restaurants so they bought the white ones

Here's Tesco's press release about it.

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danielroseman@reddit

The most shocking part of that press release is the last sentence: 89p for a pack of 6. I paid £2.10 in Sainsbury's last week - more than double the price in five years.

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No-Assignment-5287@reddit

Well that's what you get when you print massive amounts of money and the country doesn't make anything.

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GourangaPlusPlus@reddit

Come on now, we alsoncut ties with our largest trading partner

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No-Assignment-5287@reddit

yes because minor barriers to trade explain a near 3 times increase in prices.

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Able-Explanation7835@reddit (OP)

I counter the point on white eggs going to restaurants. I used to be a chef. I NEVER saw a single white egg in 10 years of working in kitchens around the UK. Maybe not so much restaurants as commercial factories then?

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soitspete@reddit

Fair enough, you've got me on that one! Yeah commercial seems likely then.

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Able-Explanation7835@reddit (OP)

Well, being a chef is a big part of the question I guess. I mean, the average person sees a bunch of eggs, but a chef sees literally hundreds of thousands in their lifetime. And for 10 years of mine, not a single white egg. Then I saw them not so long ago and I loved the look. Obvs same taste pretty much, but it was just prettier!

I am finding out it is down to the type of hen, but still no outright answer. Lots and lots of theories!

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PootMcGroot@reddit

Comes down to whichever suppliers your restaurant has, I guess? White eggs never went away in the catering market

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voluotuousaardvark@reddit

For the sake of conversation, I did completed work for a gentleman that owned a chicken farm in Lowestoft- he pffered me 24 eggs as a tip, I kinda laugh/scoffed like "dafuq am I gonna do with 24 eggs" he looked a bit put out then came back with.... 24 more eggs.

They were all (as far as i know, i gave the second lot back lol) white shell double yolkers too. I think he was selling them to a cake factory.

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Dranask@reddit

The large eggs from Sainsbury’s are white. Many double yoked too

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itzzzzmileyyyy@reddit

Which ones?

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Dranask@reddit

These. Six eggs so far all doubles. Very odd.

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neilm1000@reddit

I've had several double yolkers recently. I'm 44 and until this point I'd only ever had two.

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positivelittlecorner@reddit

My family farm used to supply Sainsbury’s for eggs. We used to try and find the doubles and keep them from the chicken houses for our own kitchen. I miss my double yolkers!!!

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neilm1000@reddit

One I had yesterday came from a proper massive egg. I'll be keeping an eye out for them.

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Able-Explanation7835@reddit (OP)

Do you ever look at a really big egg and whince at the size of it and the poor chook that shat it out?

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Ipoopedinthefridge@reddit

Yes! I own a small flock of chickens and one literally shat out an egg the size of my palm, i was surprised poor Agatha wasn’t walking with a waddle after that! (Was a double yolker and tasted amazing in my bacon and egg sandwich)

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neilm1000@reddit

I had this exact conversation with my ex after reading this article. She didn't believe me but there is evidence of prolapses and all sorts.

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vikingraider47@reddit

I'm nearer to 50 than 40 and never seen a double yolker. I also didnt know you could break the yolk cracking an egg until I saw Chris Evans do it on Saturday Kitchen. Since then it's been 50/50 whether I break the yolk when cracking an egg. I hold him responsible for this

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thecatsothermother@reddit

I'm just over the age of 50, and I remember Mum buying a box of eggs marketed as double yolkers whem I was about 6.

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neilm1000@reddit

I've broken the yolk and I've done thousands (hospitality, I don't have an egg fetish or something).

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vikingraider47@reddit

I cant remember how he did it now, it was years ago. I sometimes crack the egg on the side of a bowl/pan or sometimes with a knife. Obviously if I'm making scrambled egg or an omelette it doenst matter if the yolk breaks, but it does with a fried or poached egg

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tiptoe_only@reddit

I'm also 44, shop at Sainsbury's and have never seen one. I suppose I'll just keep looking.

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srm79@reddit

I used to buy a dozen double yolkers from Birkenhead market, they're difficult to find now

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neilm1000@reddit

How do they tell? Do they candle them or something?

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marrangutang@reddit

I used to grow a few meat chickens for Christmas at home in the garden, and more than once I let one grow on to start laying…. They all produced double yoked eggs every time… I’d say the flock your eggs came from were bred for that trait

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srm79@reddit

I've no idea, they were just on a tray labeled double yolkers

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No-Willingness-4097@reddit

Eggs is eggs. Chickens with white feathers and earlobes lay white eggs, chickens with brown/red feathers and red earlobes lay brown eggs.

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WingdRat@reddit

Egg colour is related to the colour of the chicken's earlobes, probably just using a different hybrid of chicken that has pale lobes as opposed to darker ones

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Fun_Set_8560@reddit

I never saw white eggs as a chef. Why would anyone give a hoot what colour the egg shells are? They go in the bin...

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HeartyBeast@reddit

I note that despite not giving a hoot, you’re aware that you never saw a white egg.

If you suddenly started getting white eggs you might me mildly interested in the caused the change.

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Fun_Set_8560@reddit

I mean I never saw white eggs at work. I bought white eggs in the supermarket for myself. And I never cared if they were white, brown, or mixed...

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NrthnLd75@reddit

I like the blue ones

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Mr-Incy@reddit

Blue, or a blue/greenish, colour are usually duck eggs and a lot nicer than chicken eggs.

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NrthnLd75@reddit

Clarence Court, Old Cotswold Leg Bar. Yum. Definitely chicken. Although I like duck eggs for some stuff.

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Worldly_Wafer_6635@reddit

My partner does the shopping, and I went to get a egg at the weekend and was taken back.

I don't actually recall ever seeing one in real life before.

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nemetonomega@reddit

It's due to producers switching to a hen breed called Lohmann LSL that lays white eggs. They have a lower carbon footprint than the hens previously used (lay more eggs, have a longer laying cycle, use less feed etc...)

Link below from the Co-Op detailing the change and why it was done.

I imagine it's the same with other retailers now starting to switch as well.

https://www.co-operative.coop/media/news-releases/co-op-introduces-white-eggs-to-support-100-free-range-offer

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Shoddy_Rabbit_1850@reddit

because of reform voters , cant have them brown eggs

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Odd-Paramedic-3826@reddit

I've noticed they've got more varied in general. I get eggs from tesco, sometimes they're white, sometimes they're brown, sometimes they're really dark brown with rough shells and orange yolks. I think it depends on the farmer, free range vs battery, and what the chickens are fed

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SaltyName8341@reddit

The colour of the egg matches the colour of the hen

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Ok_Analyst_5640@reddit

No it doesn't. 🙄 You can get green or blue chicken eggs, when did you see a blue chicken?

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AcceptableSeaweed@reddit

Nah my Sussex white laid brown eggs

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Busy-Department-6816@reddit

Nope, I keep hens, my black bantams lay pure white eggs.

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Tirno93@reddit

I feel like such a city dweller reading this because I cannot be sure it’s sarcasm

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SaltyName8341@reddit

I'm a city dweller too

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hsw77@reddit

Apparently you can sort of tell what colour egg a chicken will lay by the colour of its earlobe.

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Tirno93@reddit

I heard that if you multiply the number of teeth a hen has by the number of eggs they lay in a year you can find out how many eggs a rooster will lay

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atomicshrimp@reddit

The colour of the egg is dependent on the variety of the hen, but it's not quite as simple as white hens lay white eggs (there is some correlation but there are also some brown hen breeds that lay white eggs and vice versa)

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nali_cow@reddit

If Stardew Valley has taught me anything, it's this

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LikelyNotSober@reddit

Interestingly, here in America, I’ve suddenly been seeing a lot of blue/green colored eggs! Yes, it’s a natural thing- they come from some specialty breeds usually raised on smaller family farms traditionally.

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fixitagaintomorro@reddit

Different breeds of chickens lay different coloured eggs. The egg supply is using chickens that produce white eggs more often than before especially on the factory and battery farm end of the spectrum. On the Organic side its the eggs we are used to

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LikelyNotSober@reddit

The color of the chicken’s earlobes is connected with egg shell color. Red lobes - brown eggs. White lobes - white eggs.

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juanito_f90@reddit

I find it bizarre that people actually care what colour the egg shell is.

The important part is inside!

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Nategg@reddit

A lot of people say white eggs go to catering.

Well, I've been a chef for a very long time and I rarely see them.

One case of 15 dozen eggs (common amount) are always brown.

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Ok_Advantage_8153@reddit

Forget the colour, how do they get the chickens to print the date on them when they them?

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semicombobulated@reddit

I know that in reality the colour doesn’t make any difference, but white eggs gross me out. They look unnatural.

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Cubewood@reddit

Believe it or not, the chickens which produce white eggs have a lower carbon footprint than the chickens who produce brown eggs, so many suppliers are changing the breed of chicken to meet their carbon emission targets: https://layinghens.hendrix-genetics.com/en/articles/environmental-impact-production-white-and-brown-eggs/

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frozenaisle@reddit

^this is the reason that some supermarkets have moved, rather than the shortages referenced elsewhere

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Cubewood@reddit

Yeah kind of crazy that all the top comments are incorrect without providing any source. Maybe during COVID this was the case, but this is not the reason for white eggs.

https://www.morrisons-corporate.com/media-centre/corporate-news/morrisons-launch-white-eggs-that-give-back-to-farmers/

https://corporate.sainsburys.co.uk/sustainability/explore-by-a-z/agriculture-aquaculture-and-horticulture/sourcing-sustainable-eggs/

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Bufobufolover24@reddit

I don’t touch eggs from supermarkets (ethical reasons), but I have been around chickens for my whole life.

The commercial laying hens that produce brown eggs are really gentle, friendly birds. But they are also slightly larger. The white commercial layers are smaller, more flighty and difficult, but lay huge (white) eggs. I think it comes and goes in phases, but the white ones being smaller may contribute to their popularity, though they are generally considered “meaner”.

Here’s a rehabilitated ex-barn hen.

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Either_Argument3517@reddit

Yes. If you buy eggs or products that contain eggs, you are rescuing the hens from a situation you paid for them to be in.

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bornfromanegg@reddit

What’s your point?

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Either_Argument3517@reddit

Lots of people rescue hens, whilst still supporting the system that they have rescued them from. They don't make the connection between the cake purchased in the supermarket and they state of the hens that are now their pets.

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bornfromanegg@reddit

Lots of people rescue hens, and are vegan.

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Either_Argument3517@reddit

You don't say.

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Bufobufolover24@reddit

That is true. But you cannot just assume that everyone does that.

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Either_Argument3517@reddit

I didn't.

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Bufobufolover24@reddit

I don’t buy any eggs or egg products, that’s the whole point.

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adymann@reddit

Do you find the white egg shells are really brittle compared to brown eggs. There's something not quite right with them imo.

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Pretty-Objective5151@reddit

Brown eggs were too woke. Too yolk.

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Asher-D@reddit

I thought brown vs white eggs was just a breed (or whatever the word is) thing.

I was always told I saw brown eggs exclusively growing up because the chickens we get our eggs from are a different breed or whatever of chicken.

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antlered-god@reddit

When I was a child in the 60's, eggs were always white. Then it became fashionable for them to be brown. Now the white ones are back. No problem. The only difference between them is that chickens with brown feathers lay brown eggs. White chickens lay white eggs. That's it....

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ssushi-speakers@reddit

White eggs were normal, then they figured out they could charge us more for brown ones, as they were perceived as being more healthy (they're the same). Now, we don't care.

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FormerStableGenius@reddit

Because there's more space on the top shelves now no one buys porno mags.

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One-Price680@reddit

I once had an entire half dozen white regular /normal extra large eggs from Sainsbury's and they were all double yolkers. I was thrilled!!

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bramley36@reddit

We raise mixed poultry. We choose chicken varieties that lay brown eggs, to distinguish them from white duck eggs. And of course, goose eggs are just massive.

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r_keel_esq@reddit

I've lived in Scotland my entire life and I've never seen anything other than brown eggs in the shops (or from friends and family who keep chickens)

I was on holiday in Wales recently and all the eggs from Tesco were white.

Make of that what you will

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IcyPuffin@reddit

White eggs used to be pretty common in the uk. I was a kid in the 70s and eggs were usually white. You did get brown eggs, but they werent that common.

I seem to recall the thinking that brown eggs were healthier than white (just as brown bread was healthier than white bread was). And gradually brown eggs became the norm.

I personally am loving seeing white eggs more and more. I will choose boxes that are all or at least mostly white eggs. I seem to think that an egg is supposed to be white as thats all i knew for the first part of my life.

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tiptoe_only@reddit

As a prolific baker I prefer the brown ones as the white shells seem to be a bit weaker and more prone to not breaking cleanly, but that might be down the the way I crack them

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not1or2@reddit

Always seems to me that the white eggs shells aren’t as “thick”/tough as brown ones?! I always assumed that the colour came from what they ate? Never considered that it was due to something else.

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Puzzled-Barnacle-200@reddit

The colour is dependent on the breed.

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not1or2@reddit

Learn something new every day! Thanks.

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Optikal-Omega@reddit

My wife gets very excited when we open a box and the eggs are white. She said they feel more posh than the usual brown ones 😅

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blueroses8000@reddit

I was surprised to see the change too. Growing up watching American media you always saw them with white eggs and I thought they were “better” as a child. But now I associate it with them being cheaper than brown as the caged value eggs are the ones that have gone white and the free range ones are still brown.

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CoolRanchBaby@reddit

I grew up in the U.S. and they did used to be white there but now I often seen brown shells when I go back to visit.

The one time I always look for white eggs here is when colouring them for Easter with kids. Maybe not many people do that here but brown ones don’t work great. White ones work a lot better so it’s nice they are easier to get the past few years.

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Proud_Celebration_18@reddit

Cheaper hens produce white eggs.

They have exactly the same nutritional value and have no different taste to brown eggs.

It’s a cost decision.

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Jesterstear99@reddit

I'm OLD, so I always open the boxes and check*, so I don't ever buy white eggs.

In The Olden Days some shopkeepers would dunk white eggs in cold tea and pass them off as brown, so speckled eggs are my preference (but I guess they just spray them speckly nowadays...)

(* at 40p an egg, I check every single one all over for cracks or damage before I put the box in my trolley)

It may just be that I have got a lot larger lately, but I have to buy "extra super giant ostrich size" to get a decent egg, the medium ones look like they were laid by humming birds!

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PurplePlodder1945@reddit

I always buy Welsh eggs from Lidl. They’re nearly always white now. My mother and my boss aren’t fans but I couldn’t care less as long as they’re properly free range

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Existing_Doughnut985@reddit

That’ll be one of Reforms policies.

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dope42042@reddit

Hilaruous and underrated comment

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Shitelark@reddit

Tesco seem to have more of them. They are more fragile. I bought some XL brown today because the usual large were white.

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monkeyshoulder22@reddit

Different breed hens lay different colour eggs. You can generalise it, if the hen has white ears it'll probably lay white eggs, brown or red ears then brown eggs.

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JLAshbourne@reddit

White eggs used to go for processed food. Consumers didn’t want them because of I guess superstition, so they were cheaper. Now there’s a shortage of eggs, beggars can’t be choosers.

I had a retail job about a decade ago, and I still remember some madwoman coming up to me. “What do I do with these white eggs then?” Insane question. Still haunts me. What did you do with them in the end, madwoman?

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nutbynature@reddit

She made an omelette for sure

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KezzyKesKes@reddit

I keep chickens and I get brown, pink, white, green and blue eggs daily.

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Choccybizzle@reddit

Let me understand: you got the hen, the chicken, and the rooster. The rooster goes with the chicken. So, who's having sex with the hen?

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Mr-Incy@reddit

A rooster and a hen are both a chicken.
Chicken is the species not the gender.

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anotherlblacklwidow@reddit

That’s perverse.

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inflatablefish@reddit

whoever they meet at the hen party, traditionally.

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GarageIndependent114@reddit

Egg whites are a cooking ingredient and not everyone wants eggs just for that.

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Mr-Incy@reddit

I think you may have read the OP wrong.
They are talking about the shell colour.

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Neither_Process_7847@reddit

This again? Different breeds have different coloured eggshells - it's no more complex than that. The US have terrible hygiene standards so chorine wash eggs, which destroys their natural protection so they have to keep eggs in the fridge, but that has nothing to do with the shell colour.

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JimDixon@reddit

The way I heard it, farmers in the US-- especially those who own the big "factory" farms, where everything is designed for efficiency-- prefer white chickens, because white chickens are easier to inspect for injuries, disease, insect infestations, etc. White chickens lay white eggs because their bodies don't produce melanin.

Nevertheless, some people think brown eggs are better and are willing to pay more for them. You can get brown eggs in the US but the vast majority are white.

People who raise chickens on a small scale seem to prefer brown, black, at spotted chickens. Maybe white chickens make easier targets for predators, because they have no camouflage?

I don't know why the same conditions don't exist in the UK.

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Incitatus_For_Office@reddit

Although there will be similarities, the same conditions are not in place partly as we have far higher animal welfare and food standards.

Depending on where you are, the presence of predators (and their determination) will vary. You have such a big country that the predators and conditions will vary a lot more than here in the UK.

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-Copenhagen@reddit

Egg shell colour depends on the breed of the hens.

If you see more white than you used to, the hockey farmers have changed breeds.

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YchYFi@reddit

This sub is obsessed with eggs today.

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raguff@reddit

I’m sure I saw something about the hens that lay white eggs being generally nice to each other, but consumer preference was historically for the brown eggs so supermarkets got those and industry got the white ones. Then Covid hit and it turns out most people don’t care, so with we seem to get a mix in supermarkets now. That is however just a vague memory, I’m no eggzpert on the matter

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HeartyBeast@reddit

I keep hens. Haven’t seen anything to suggest that eggs colour is linked to temperament

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Puzzled-Barnacle-200@reddit

Egg colour is linked to breed. Breed is linked to egg colour.

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raguff@reddit

Nothing like spreading a bit of disinformation 🙈 I’ll take your experience over my memory any day!

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HeartyBeast@reddit

Now I’m concerned I may be misreporting. I’ll go double check when I get home and see who is pecking who.

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raguff@reddit

Haha report back on the nugs! Maybe rile them up with a bit of slipknot or something and see who kicks off the most (couldn’t think of a suitable pun in a metal band, sorry)

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superdrew91@reddit

So all the brown eggs we've had in the past are from like, fight club chickens?

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raguff@reddit

In an eggshell, yes (sorry, that’s a bit henuous)

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Sea_Pomegranate8229@reddit

There is zero difference. Brown eggs started appearing in the late '70s-'80s when everything brown (wheat, bread, rice, etc.) was being pushed as healthy.

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FinnemoreFan@reddit

There are some breeds of chicken which lay naturally blue eggs! I used to own one. You don’t generally see those in Tesco.

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FinnemoreFan@reddit

There are some breeds of chicken which lay naturally blue eggs! I used to own one. You don’t generally see those in Tesco.

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diamonds_and_rose_bh@reddit

I don't like the white ones at all, they have a weird jelly like texture no matter how much you cook them, its just gross.

And i'm sure everyone is going to tell me there is no difference but there really is.

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HeartyBeast@reddit

There’s no difference

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tannercolin@reddit

American eggs

Despite what our laws say, we're also in receivership of American chlorinated chicken

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HeartyBeast@reddit

And your evidence is ..

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RedFox3001@reddit

I don’t know if this is right but I always found the brown eggs to be tougher. Thicker maybe…than white ones. Which feel delicate and flimsy.

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srm79@reddit

I've been trying to find green eggs to go with my ham, I've come across blue eggs before now, so guessing they can come in lots of colours

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Lowermains@reddit

My gob was well and truly smacked when I opened a carton of 12 and they were white! Seemed so unappealing.

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PaidTheTrollToll@reddit

It's just a different breed of chicken. I'm guessing the mass factory farms that supply the supermarkets found our there wasn't much difference in people's views of them and went with whatever breed was cheaper and/or more productive

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SilverellaUK@reddit

It used to be the case that people thought that brown shells were more robust than white. I've no idea if that is true.

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Sure-Junket-6110@reddit

Blue eggs are the only real choice

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sock_cooker@reddit

Is that what happens when the chicken hasn't laid in a long time?

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Able-Explanation7835@reddit (OP)

I see what you did there 😂

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Minimum_Airline3657@reddit

wait till you find out what the 0uk, 1uk, 2uk and 3uk stamps mean on your eggs lol

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Hopeful_chap@reddit

What is so surprising about that? The first number of the egg code defines four methods of hens raising:

0, organic egg production 1, free-range eggs 2, deep litter indoor housing 3, cage farming

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Boboshady@reddit

White eggs come from white hens, which are cheaper to feed, so the eggs - which are nutritionally the same - are cheaper to supply.

This can be dressed up as 'more sustainable' due to the reduced feed requirements, but really it's down to money.

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FewAnybody2739@reddit

I've been seeing more white ones, though the eggs in each box tend to be all the same colour - maybe each farm has one type of hen.

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Away-Activity-469@reddit

I first saw, and paid for handsomely, white eggs in the pandemic, when there waa a shortage. I got them from a cafe that turned to selling eggs. Now the white ones are everywhere, so maybe theres an oversupply with restaurants not being as busy.

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vikingveteran@reddit

Blame reform

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_Loosecanon_@reddit

White eggs are cheaper to produce, same as everything cheap wins

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seven-cents@reddit

Invasion of the Leghorns!

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Lanky_Bus_1221@reddit

Utter nonsense, a 2 second google search will tell you that the colour of the eggs depends on the breed of the hen it’s got nothing to do with ‘cheapness’ or any other bullshit theory’s thrown about in this thread 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

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_Loosecanon_@reddit

Check on the bird that produces white eggs they are cheaper to have/feed etc than the brown producing birds, they also produce more eggs.

Cheaper wins

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neilm1000@reddit

Except some breeds are more productive with longer laying periods, have a different food intake and so on. So they absolutely can be cheaper to produce.

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schemmenti@reddit

If I had to guess, avian flu has reduced the population of commercial laying hens that lay brown eggs and more white eggs are being imported from elsewhere to fill the gap. It's also the reason that chicken in supermarkets and fast food places has gotten considerably worse - there aren't enough chickens to meet the demand because of avian flu culls.

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