I Had No Idea!-Here’s What That White Stringy Bit Attached To Your Egg Yolk Is

Have you ever been cracking your eggs in the morning and wondered what that weird white string attached to your egg yolk is?

Or perhaps you’ve never really paid much attention. Every egg has one of these and despite popular rumour, you will be happy to know that it is not the chickens umbilical cord. Ew. Gross.

True, it does look a little inconspicuous, floating around, sometimes even hiding beneath the yolk, but it’s there, lurking.

So what are you actually looking for and what actually is it?

It’s actually called chalazae and there are two of them on each side of the yolk.

These strings act as an anchor, they are absolutely essential if the yolk is to stay in the centre of the egg whites.They may look a bit freaky, and possibly even weird you out a little bit, but they are completely safe to eat.

These things are easy to spot when you first crack the egg out of its shell. But what’s great about these things is that they are a great indicator of how fresh the egg is, the more noticeable they are to the naked eye, the fresher the product is.If the egg is old the chalazae will have faded and eventually disappear.

Here are five surprising facts about eggs that you may not have known before:

1. It’s full of Vitamin D-well, in the egg yolk at least. It’s one of the few foods that naturally contain the vitamin.
2. Browns vs White-The colour of the eggshell depends on the breed of chicken it does not have an effect on the nutritional value of the egg.
3. Egg Yolk colour means something- The freshest eggs sometimes have cloudy whites. Less- fresh eggs have more clear whites. If the whites are pinkish, it’s going rotten.
4. Bad eggs float-The older an egg is, the more air seeps into the shell’s pores.
5. Egg cleanup- If you drop an egg on the floor, the best way to clean it up is to sprinkle salt on it as it’ll make it easier.