Fake Chicken Eggs Add to List of Fake-Food Scandals

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How it all Started
This issue of fake eggs is not new in China, it has been
happening since many years. You do not need a chicken to
produce egg in China, you will only need a few man-made
chemicals. According to the state news agency, Xinhua, back
in 2005, fake eggs first appeared in the mid-90’s and
production spread all over China. At the time, the production
cost of a fake egg was half of its real equivalent. With the
proper equipment and materials, one person could produce
1,500 fake eggs per day.
How the Fake Eggs are Made

Fake egg’s shell is made of calcium carbonate. Egg yolk and
egg white are made of sodium alginate, alum, gelatin, eatable
calcium chloride and then add water and food coloring. First
prepare a mould, then mix the right amounts of resin, starch,
coagulant and pigments to make egg white. Sodium alginate,
extracted from brown algae, gives the egg white the wanted
viscosity. Then add the fake egg yolk, a different mix of resin
and pigments. Once the proper shape is achieved, an
amalgamate of paraffin wax, gypsum powder and calcium
carbonate makes for a credible shell. An egg-shape container
into which the mixture is poured puts everything in proper
shape, and off to the market they go to complete the cycle of
deceit.
When these fake eggs are made with harmful chemicals and
waste plastic materials from factories, they are sure to
damage the health of people who eat them. Long-term
consumption of these fake eggs can lead to many health
problems like memory loss or dementia. So it is important for
the consumers to identify and differentiate these fake eggs
from real ones.
How to Identify Fake Eggs

1. Watch the shell: Fake egg’s shell is a little shinier than the
real egg, but it is not very noticeable.
2. Feel the texture: When touched by hand, the fake egg feels a
little rougher than the real egg.
3. Shake: If shaken, the fake egg will make some noises,
because water overflows from the solid agent.
4. Sniff the egg: Real egg has a faint natural odour that smells
a little like raw meat.
5. Tap the egg lightly: Real egg makes a more crisp sound than
the fake egg.
6. Check how the yolk disperses: Shortly after opening the fake
egg, egg yolk and egg white will melt together. This is because
the egg yolk and egg white are made of the same raw
materials.
7. When frying a fake egg, the yolk will spread without being
touched.
Victims of Fake Eggs
A woman who gave her name as Ms. Tian was shopping at a
vegetable market in Luoyang, in central China’s Henan
province, when she noticed a van selling eggs for about 6¢
cheaper than they were going for in supermarkets, the
Guangming Daily reported. Assuming that the eggs were from
a countryside seller not aware of city prices, she took her
chances and bought 2.5 kg of the bargain eggs — which
turned out to be fakes.
Zhengzhou city’s local newspaper, Zhengzhou Daily
(Zhengzhou is the capital city of Henan province, in Central
China) reported on Aug 13, 2007 that resident Mr. Wang, who’s
been selling food additive for many years, found that the
chicken eggs he bought on night market didn’t look natural –
his experience in food told him the “eggs” were made by
additive! So he caught the boss of the restaurant and asked
him to tell he the truth, otherwise he will sue to the authority.
The boss then reluctantly told Ms. Wang that the eggs were
totally man-made, he actually didn’t make it himself but
bought from a producer.
The quest for survival
The poverty level in China could be the major cause of these
strange productions from time to time. Considering the profit
margin of producing and selling fake eggs, it is quite lucrative
enough to keep a poor Chinese moving ahead in a hard world.
The list will eventually remain endless, of China’s production of
fake things until who knows when.