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CANDLING

The step in grading during which the egg grader looks inside the egg (without breaking it) to judge quality. Long ago, this quality check was done by holding a candle behind an egg. Some hand-candling, using electric equipment, is still used for spot-checking or for training egg graders, but today most eggs pass on rollers over high-intensity lights, which make the interior of the egg visible. The eggs are rotated so all parts are visible. The candler checks the size of the air cell and the distinctness of the yolk outline. Imperfections such as blood spots show up in candling. Very large packing plants may also use electronic blood and/or check detectors to sort and remove eggs exhibiting these defects.

– See Air Cell, Blood Spots, Grading