Why are some egg shells brown and some white?
The colour of the egg shell is dependent on the breed of the hen. In general, white hens produce white eggs and brown hens brown eggs. Up until the early 1970s, white eggs were popular in the UK, but during the late 1970s the number of white eggs began to diminish as consumers expressed a preference for brown eggs. Since the 1980s the British industry has produced almost 100 per cent brown shelled eggs, although several other countries still produce white shelled eggs. There is no nutritional difference between white and brown shelled eggs.
