October 21, 2013 | 1 minute read

Q:        Are brown eggs more nutritious than regular white eggs?

A:        Many people assume that eggs with brown shells are more nutritious, or that they come from organically raised hens, but that’s not true. The breed of hen that lays an egg determines the color of its shell, with the hen’s diet possibly adding slight variations. White hens lay white eggs and dark hens lay brown eggs.  Shell color does not indicate egg quality, flavor, nutritional value or cooking characteristics. Whether shells are brown or white, nutritional quality of an egg reflects the diet and health of the hen that laid it. For example, hens with diets higher in vitamin D, selenium, omega-3 fat (from plants such as hemp seed), or carotenoids (from dark green forage, such as kale) produce eggs higher in those nutrients.