Audio By Carbonatix
Food in the U.S. has long been under a microscope by consumers. According to a Pew Research Center survey from 2018, half of Americans think foods with genetically modified ingredients are worse than those without. And most believe everyday agricultural practices carry at least some risk.
That suspicion only grows when comparing U.S. shopping habits with Europe, as one expert explained. In places like France or Italy, it’s common to buy bread, produce, or dairy fresh each day.
In America, many households buy groceries in bulk once a week—or even once a month—meaning products are often packed with preservatives to last longer. Anyone who has seen American bread stay soft for weeks while European loaves mold in a few days knows the difference.
All of this has fueled anxieties over what exactly ends up in U.S. grocery carts. One TikTok user recently went viral after posting a video of a strange discovery inside his carton of eggs.
A ‘Fake Egg’ Theory Takes Off
In the clip, which was viewed more than 1.4 million times, Patrick Williams (@patrickwilliams3994) inspects two trays of eggs he says he bought in Queens for $4.99 each.
What caught his attention were faint lines running across several of the shells.
“I don’t know if you guys could see. … There’s two lining here that shows clearly that this is not real eggs,” he says while holding one up to the camera. “Somebody open this egg and attach the bottom back.”
He cracks one onto a plate to demonstrate, insisting that what came out didn’t look or smell like a normal egg. “This is liquid that they mix and color it,” he claims. “Egg supposed to smell raw. … This has no smell.”
Williams warns others to check their eggs closely and says he’d be returning his purchase to the store.
What’s Going On Here?
Despite fears of “fake eggs,” there’s no evidence the U.S. government—or anyone else—is manufacturing artificial eggs for supermarkets.
The poultry industry remains strong, with more than 520 million chickens and 218 million turkeys in the country, according to Statista.
Still, Williams isn’t the first person to go viral after noticing unusual marks on store-bought eggs; another woman claimed the same, also saying she believes someone replaced the membrane of the egg with paper.
A Reddit post from r/eggs last year described a nearly identical situation, with commenters quick to chime in.
“I think this is a mark from the sorting machine,” one person explained. “They get rolled along spinning as they go, so if the machine got stuck and they were rolling for longer than usual, it might leave a mark.”
Another added that cleaning chemicals might be to blame: “The disinfectant we use to clean the machine is a dilution of citric or boric acid and leaves behind a residual amount on the edge of the belt.
Commenters Are Split
In the comments, some users believed the eggs weren’t real, while others pushed back on the theory.
“Real food is illegal in America,” one person wrote.
Another argued it didn’t make sense, saying, “Why would anyone go through the trouble of making a fake egg when chickens already give them out for free and in unlimited supply? That’s like inventing fake sunlight when the sun shines every day for free.”
“I don’t even know what to eat anymore,” someone else added.
BroBible has reached out to Williams via TikTok direct messages.