The Difference Between White and Brown Eggs

Simple Things – Surprising Histories looked at white and brown eggs, noting that there isn’t really a difference in taste or nutrition between the two. In fact, the color of an egg is solely determined by the color of a chicken‘s earlobe feathers.

If a chicken has white feathers and white earlobes…it will almost always lay white eggs. …On the other hand, if a chicken has red or brown feathers and red earlobes, like the famous Rhode Island Red, it will lay brown eggs. 

The narrator also spoke about how brown eggs were sold as being more luxurious than white eggs, despite them being nutritionally the same.

The breeds of chickens that lay brown eggs are physically larger, heavier birds than the white egg-laying leghorns. Because they’re bigger, they require more food, more space, and more energy to maintain. The farmer has to spend significantly more money on chicken feed to get a brown egg than a white egg. That extra cost of production is simply passed on to you at he checkout counter.