Is The Blood Spot In Eggs Safe To Eat?

Eggs can hold a few surprises when you crack open the shell. While some of these are actually quite good, such as the gift of finding double yolks nestled inside, sometimes they don't seem to be quite so wonderful, like when you find a blood spot in your egg. Blood spots in an egg can be mildly alarming — and can make you wonder if they're safe to eat.

The good news is that yes, you can eat eggs that are garnished with a blood spot or two, even though it sounds kind of, well, gross. They're also known by the equally unappetizing name of "meat spots," but according to the Egg Safety Center, they're totally fine to eat as long as they, along with the rest of the egg, are properly cooked. 

Blood spots are caused when a blood vessel ruptures on the yolk's surface during its formation, or while it's still within the hen's reproductive tract. However, blood spots in your eggs are pretty rare. 

After the egg exits the chicken and before it gets into the carton you'll find on store shelves, eggs go through a few different processes — one is washing, which removes its outer protective layer (or bloom), and is the reason you have to keep your eggs in the fridge. Another process eggs go through is candling, or electronic spotting, which will usually detect anomalies, such as blood spots. This enables the egg producer to remove the egg (via Golden Valley), but even electronic spotting can sometimes miss blood spots. And if you're buying farm fresh eggs that don't go through that process? The likelihood of blood spots increases.

While blood spots are totally safe for consumption, they do look a little weird, so it's fine to remove them with the tip of a clean knife before cooking. If you truly don't care, though, just make sure you cook the egg properly. The spots will cook up with the rest of your eggs, and everything will be A-OK.