The Incredible White Egg Yolk??

While making tuna salad for lunch today, I was surprised to find a white yolk when I cut into a hard-boiled egg. I’m not talking about a really pale yellow yolk, this was as white as the rest of the egg.

Up until now I had never seen or heard of a white egg yolk. Was it safe to eat? I wasn’t sure what to think. This particular egg came out of a package of hard-boiled peeled eggs that I purchased from my local grocery store.

I did some research on the internet and this is what I found. The color of the yolk is a result of the hens diet. More specifically the color of the yolk is due to xanthophylls, which are natural pigments found in certain plants. A diet high in corn or alfalfa is likely to produce darker yellow egg yolks. Sometimes, natural yellow and red pigments are also added to the feed to further ensure the desirable deep yellow color.

A colorless diet consisting of white cornmeal will likely result in an almost colorless yolk. I am just assuming that by colorless they mean white. Mystery solved? Not exactly.

According to this particular egg company’s website, their hens are fed a diet of corn and alfalfa, with natural yellow and red pigments added to the feed to ensure deep yellow colored yolks. So, I don’t know what happened for sure, but I did learn a little bit about how eggs are made. Anyone else come across white or colorless yolks?

By Tempie at October 8, 2010.