REGINA – Three federal government agents work alone in the back of a cool, darkened concrete building. Tails of white lab coats flutter as they move among their subjects.
The pale subject is forced against the only light source; it is bright and intense. The examiner stares straight through the object. He knows that deep inside it’s going to be yellow. They always are.
“There’s no such thing as a bad egg, it’s just that some aren’t as good as others,” says the federal agent.
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You can’t judge an egg only by its cover. And those who judge them take both the shell and its contents seriously.
Eggs are not created equal. Under the keen eyes of three Canadian Food Inspection agents, with a combined egg judging experience totaling more than 50 years, individual eggs are measured, weighed, visually compared and graded. Before this day ends, more than 2,500 eggs will come under scrutiny.
Province wide
Egg producers from the three prairie provinces brought out their best for this competition at Canadian Western Agribition held Nov. 23-30 in Regina.
Some eggs were entered and judged much earlier in the year, but most arrive in Regina, on the day of determination, three days before the start of the show.
The annual production showcase of western Canadian agriculture is home to hundreds of annual awards but few products are as objectively examined. A difference of one-tenth of a millimetre or half a gram can be the determination between winning and losing.
Measured in Haugh units, the relationship between the weight of an egg, out of its shell, and how proudly it stands on a leveled glass platform determines quality inside the shell.
Eggs are also candled to examine their contents before they are opened. The amount of air inside the shell is observed along with the stability of the yolk in the middle of the white. All of these elements are recorded on grading sheets that accompany each entry. But that is only half the paperwork. Then the shell must be graded.
Shell thickness is measured, its texture and appearance examined, the height of the eggs in the dozen submitted compared and the cleanliness of the eggs is scored. Still the judging is not over.
Overall appearance of the packaging and quality of the information on the egg carton are checked against regulations. Only when the total points are tallied are the winners declared.
