Eggs are one of the most versatile foods on the planet. While it’s an obvious egg fact that they are a staple of many breakfast foods including omelettes and quiches, they also are an important part of bread, pastries, mayonnaise, and much more. Even if you consume this popular ingredient often, you may not know about these interesting facts about eggs!
6 Egg Facts
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- Chicken eggs can be white, brown, blue, or green. (source) Egg color is typically determined by a chicken’s genetics. Different breeds of hens will produce different colored eggs, but there is typically no major change in taste or nutrition.
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- Egg prices increased 170% in Las Vegas between 2021 and 2023, the biggest increase in the U.S. (source) During the pandemic and the recent inflation surge, grocery prices have been a hot topic, particularly the cost of eggs. Las Vegas saw the biggest increase in the United States.
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- Chickens lay an average of 276 eggs per year. (source) Laying hens’ egg production can vary by breed, age, and environment, but they can typically lay four to five eggs per week.
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- Egg yolk color is determined by a hen’s diet. (source) Breed has very little to do with egg yolk color; in fact, it’s what the hens eat! Hens that eat a diet of food with yellow or orange pigments will generally lay eggs with darker yolks.
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- Iowa produces the most eggs in the United States. (source) Between September 2019 and August 2020, hens in Iowa laid almost 16 billion eggs.
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- Brown eggs cost more because the hens require more food. (source) Wonder why brown eggs cost more than white eggs? The hens that lay them are larger and generally require more food, which bumps up the price of their eggs.
