Is Egg Vegetarian Or Non-Vegetarian?

What is the most asked question of the century? It is whether an egg falls under the category of vegetarian or non-vegetarian food. What do you think?

Eggs have been considered a non-veg food for centuries. However, several facts do not entirely support this statement. 

If we go by the definition that the people who eat flesh are non-vegetarian, then the egg is vegetarian food as it neither has flash nor life. It is not possible to eat something lifeless like plastic or wood. Therefore, today everything we eat has life.

Vegetarian food is spiritually acceptable because it is derived from a single sense of life, while eggs that we eat come from a life that has five senses. So let us scientifically put an end to the debate!  

Table of Contents

1. What Are The Types of Eggs?

2. Is Egg Considered Vegetarian? 

3. Is Egg Considered Meat?  

4. What Is the Science Behind Egg? 

5. Dietician's Recommendation

6. The Final Say

7. FAQs

What Are The Types Of Eggs?

There are two types of eggs. They are: 

Fertilised eggs: The hen and rooster must mate before the egg is formed for the eggs to be fertilised. If this occurs, the hen's eggs are fertilised and will hatch.

Unfertilised eggs: If a hen lays eggs after not mating, the eggs are unfertilised.

Is Egg Considered Vegetarian? 

Do you remember your friends telling you they are vegetarian despite eating eggs? There is a massive population in this category!

Vegetarianism is categorised as eating something without animal flesh like tissue, muscles, and meat. A lot of people do not consider eggs a vegetarian-friendly food. 

However, if an egg is not fertilised and will never develop into an animal, it would be regarded as a vegetarian and treated as animal byproduct like milk and butter. The majority of eggs sold in grocery stores are mass-produced and 

unfertilised (lifeless). 

Here are a few different labels for vegetarians based on their eating habits. 

Lacto-vegetarians - They avoid eggs, meat, and fish but consume dairy products. 

Ovo-vegetarians - They avoid meat, fish, and dairy products but consume eggs. 

Lacto-Ovo vegetarians - They avoid meat and fish but consume eggs and dairy. 

Vegan - They avoid all animals and animal products such as fish, dairy, eggs, honey, etc.  

Is Egg Considered Meat? 

In some parts of the world, eggs are customarily considered a form of meat. It is tied to religious practices, such as Hinduism. 

While most Westerners accept that eggs are a suitable inclusion in a vegetarian diet, many Eastern cultures do not. Therefore, it depends on cultural understanding and interpretation. 

What Is the Science Behind Egg? 

Scientists claim that eggs are primarily vegetarian. However, since eggs come from a hen, a live creature, many individuals have argued that they are not vegetarian. 

The albumen (egg white), the yolk, and the eggshell make up an egg. The protein albumen is suspended in water to form the egg white. There are no animal cells in it. Therefore, egg whites are vegetarian, and any goods using egg whites are vegetarian in theory.

Most of the yolk is a suspension of cholesterol, fat,  and protein in water, but the yolk is non-veg because the gamete cells cannot be entirely separated from the yellow component. As a result, there are no viable chicks in fertilised or unfertilised eggs.

The hen must mate with a rooster to produce a chick. Furthermore, farms that grow chickens for edible eggs keep the roosters away, preventing fertilisation.

To produce a chick inside an egg, the fertilised egg must develop into an embryo, 

which can occur only under certain conditions. Therefore, the eggs we eat practically every day do not contain embryos to produce a chick.

Dietician's Recommendation

People usually find blood spots inside the eggs, and they mistake it for the blood of the chick that was supposed to be born. However, these blood spots are called meat spots, which does not mean that the egg is fertilised. Instead, it happens when the yolk of an egg is formed, and the blood vessel of the hen ruptures, causing the blood spot. 

Therefore, the next time you find blood spots in your egg. Do not feel bad about killing a life because you did not! Yes, eggs come from chickens, but they are not killed to produce them. 

- Dietician Vajeda Rehman 

The Final Say 

A 6-month-old hen lays eggs every day. She does not have to mate before producing them. These are unfertilised eggs. The eggs we buy at the local market are mostly unfertilised. If an egg were never fertilised and never became an animal, it would be regarded as vegetarian, similar to milk and butter. However, they are considered non-vegetarian because of their religious beliefs. 

FAQs

1. What are the essential vitamins found in eggs? 

Riboflavin (vitamin B2), vitamin D, vitamin E, vitamin B5, and vitamin A are a few vitamins found in eggs. 

2. What are the benefits of eggs in a vegetarian diet?

Eggs play a vital role in many vegetarian diets as their intake fulfills the requirement of several nutrients such as vitamin B12, iron, omega-3, calcium, and zinc. 

3. What if you find blood inside the egg?

 It happens when the yolk of an egg is formed, and the blood vessel of the hen ruptures, causing the blood spot.

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