What do you feel, whether egg is a vegetarian or a non-vegetarian item? Well, the answer might be surprising to you. Since, a vegetarian diet is often defined as the one that does not include meat; therefore egg is considered to be a vegetarian product. You must have heard many people eating eggs and describing themselves as vegetarian, right? There is a huge population out there that falls under this category. Such people are often categorised as ovo-vegetarians, i.e. the ones who include eggs in their diet while abstaining from flesh.
Since, eggs do not contain animal flesh, they are considered to be vegetarian. With this logic, eggs can be considered safe if you are a vegetarian; but they are not vegan for sure. Still, there are several people who believe eggs to be non-vegetarian and do not consume them if they practice vegetarianism.
There is also difference between eggs, which are categorised into two types. One is the fertilized egg; which results from the mating of a hen and rooster. This provides it the chance to become a chicken. And, a person who opposes eating animals may avoid such eggs. Unfertilized eggs, on the other hand, are the ones which will not turn into an animal and will be considered as an animal by-product, like milk and butter.
It might be possible, that you find a blood spot inside the egg sometimes. But, don’t mistake it for the blood of a chick that was about to born. It does not mean that the egg was fertilized. Instead, this might happen when blood vessel of a hen ruptures after the formation of yolk, causing a blood spot. So, the next time you get a blood spot, don’t feel bad about it; as you’re not killing a life.
Eggs contain three parts; yolk, albumen and shell. The egg white is basically a suspension of protein albumen in water; making it a vegetarian product.
In addition, many nutritional considerations guide the decision to add eggs to a vegetarian diet. Eggs are considered to be extremely nutritious with high quality protein. As a result, some vegetarians prefer to include eggs in their diet as a source of essential nutrients. However, sometimes, eggs are also viewed as unhealthy due to their high cholesterol content. Conflicting research has led to some vegetarians avoiding eggs, while others embracing it as a part of their diet.
Lastly, most of the eggs available in the market are unfertilized. Therefore, there is hardly any chance of a chick coming out of it, if we spare it.