The Story Behind Your Egg Yolks

Here in the US, many of us have grown accustomed to pale yellow egg yolks. If we saw the egg yolks from chickens raised abroad, we’d probably wonder what the heck was wrong with our eggs.

It may surprise you to know that the natural color of wild poultry eggs is actually a deep orange color, not quite as bright as the outer peel of a particularly ripe orange. Of course, there’s plenty of room for variance in nature – sometimes you might encounter a bright yellow yolk or one that has a paler hue. But in nature, you’d never find the millions of similarly colored pale yellow egg yolks that you see in conventional supermarkets around the US.

Why the difference? It all has to do with hen’s diets. If a hen consumes high levels of xanthophylls (a plant pigment), her eggs will have a more orange-toned color. Hens that lay pale yellow yolks tend to live on diets of wheat and barley, while colorless diets – such as those high in cornmeal – tend to produce even lighter hues.

This seemingly small difference actually makes a big difference in terms of nutritional value as well as taste. The more varied a hen’s diet is (that is, the more often she’s allowed to roam and eat whatever she pleases), the more nutritious her eggs will be. As a result, eggs from conventionally raised hens tend to be not only more flavorless, but also lower in nutrient content.

And that’s not all. Hens who are fed diets high in corn, soy and wheat eat a higher ratio of omega-6 fatty acids to omega-3s. This is because omega-3s are more bountiful in seeds, insects and grasses other than corn. As a result, eggs from pasture-raised hens are higher in heart-healthy omega-3s – something we Americans could definitely use in our diets. In fact, according to Authority Nutrition, pasture-raised hens produce eggs that are significantly higher in not only omega-3s, but also vitamins A and E. They contain much lower cholesterol levels, too, as a result of the difference in fatty acid chains.

Image via Authority Nutrition

So what does all of this mean for you? If you enjoy your eggs in the morning, it’d be highly beneficial for your own health to seek out eggs from pasture-raised, free-range, ethically treated animals. We’re not just talking about chicken eggs, either – all of these rules apply to eggs from ducks, geese and all other poultry.