What is Egg Quality?

Egg quality standards are based on:

 Shell cleanliness.
 Shell soundness. External
 Shell texture.
 Shell shape.
 Relative viscosity of albumen.
 Freedom from foreign matter in albumen. Internal
 Shape and firmness of yolk.
 Freedom from yolk defects.

Grading of Eggs
 Grade is determined by interior and exterior egg quality.
 Grade is designated by letters : AA, A, B.
 AA is the best grade.
 There is no nutritional difference between the grades.
 Most B grades are used by institutional egg users and never make their way to the
grocery store.

Egg grading - exterior

1. Grade A – Clean, unbroken, practically normal shape. Ridges and rough spots that do
not materially detract from the appearance of the egg are ok.
2. Grade B – Unbroken, clean to moderately stained (1/32 of surface if localized, or 1/16
of surface if scattered). Maybe somewhat unusual to misshapen, or show pronounced
ridges or thin spots.
3. Dirty – Unbroken . Adhering dirt or foreign material, prominent stains, or moderately
stained if in excess of B grade.
Egg grading – interior
1) A Grade AA egg will stand tall. The yolk is firm and the area covered by the white is
small. There is a large proportion of thick white to thin white.

2) Grade A egg covers a relatively small area. The yolk is round and upstanding. The thick
white is large in proportion to the thin white and stands fairly well around the yolk

3) A Grade B egg spreads out more. The egg yolk is flattened and there is about as much
(or more) thin white as thick white

4) Inedible eggs are produced from eggs that do

not meet USDA standards for human consumption. They do not contain hatcheries’
wastes. These eggs are seperated from the shell and the resulting liquid is denatured with
a small quantity of caramel food grade color, pasteurized, and spray

Sizing of Eggs
Egg size is determined by weight.
Each carton contains eggs of similar weights.
Grade quality and weight are not related.
6 sizes of eggs: