White eggs or brown? Which one has more to offer consumers?

If you made an omelet with brown eggs, would it taste any different than one made with white eggs? Would the nutritional value be different? For that matter, could you tell the difference between two different fried eggs, one brown, one white?

Experts say there’s no difference in taste or nutrition, based on the color of the shell. What’s different, often, is the prices. Basically, the kind of hens that lay brown eggs eat more and are thus more expensive to feed. So those brown eggs tend to be a bit more expensive.

Experts say that the current outbreaks of avian flu could also contribute to the price of eggs, if chicken farmers have to cull their herds and thus fewer eggs are available at the market.

“Basically, there is no difference between a brown egg and a white egg nutritionally. It has to do with the breed of the chicken,” Daniel Brey, owner of Brey’s Egg Farm, told Yahoo . He added that the prices and flavor of the eggs “depends on the type and quantity of the feed given to the hens.”

Eggland’s Best , another egg producer, reports on its website that “generally speaking, hens with white feathers, such as White Leghorns, lay white eggs and hens with reddish brown feathers, such as Rhode Island Reds, lay brown eggs. Shell color has little relationship to egg quality, flavor, nutritive value, cooking characteristics or shell strength.”

Eggland’s Best notes that both brown and white egg shells are white on the inside, but in the case of the brown eggs, the hen places a natural pigment on the surface “during the final stages of egg formation.” How much brown depends on the hen breed and individual hen characteristics.

Are eggs good for you?

Eggs have fallen in and out of favor — and back in again. But a study in the journal Nutrients debunked some of the baggage that has dogged egg consumption.

“Hen’s eggs provide choline, folate, vitamin D, iodine, B vitamins and high-quality protein and are no longer viewed by national bodies as a risk factor for (high cholesterol) and cardiovascular disease,” researchers wrote after undertaking a review of high-quality studies. The researchers note studies showing eggs increased muscle protein synthesis and lowered fat mass. Eggs as part of a meal improved satiety. In observational studies, they said higher egg consumption had no effect or a modest reduced risk of cardiovascular disease.

The research also noted inconsistencies in findings about Type 2 diabetes, as well as the risk of heart disease in people with Type 2 diabetes.

The study authors concluded that “eggs are highly nutritious, accessible and affordable. Evidence from high-quality studies suggests they have a positive or neutral impact on health markers and do not pose a risk when eaten regularly as part of a balanced diet.”