Guide · Standards and regulation
What is a Category B egg, and where does it go?
A Category B egg is a harmless egg that does not meet the Category A requirements. RIISPOA (art. 226) includes eggs with a few small blood spots in the white and yolk. These eggs are intended exclusively for industrial processing. A Category A egg may be downgraded to B for commercial reasons, if the decision is recorded.
Updated · 3 min read
What defines a Category B egg?
Art. 226 of RIISPOA defines Category B. Its first criterion is the broadest: the egg is harmless and does not fall into Category A. In other words, Category B takes eggs that carry no risk to consumption but fail one of the Category A requirements.
Art. 224 splits eggs for human consumption into Categories A and B according to their quality characteristics. Category B is therefore the second quality class, not a class of unfit eggs. Unfit eggs fall under art. 500.
Which defects place an egg in Category B?
Art. 226 gives three routes into Category B. The first is general: any harmless egg that does not meet Category A. The other two are specific.
| Item | Criterion | Example |
|---|---|---|
| I | Harmless, but does not fall into Category A | An air cell above 6 mm |
| II | Small blood spots, few in number, in the white and yolk | A few small spots in the yolk |
| III | From a breeding poultry establishment, not submitted to incubation | Eggs from a breeding flock that were not incubated |
Item II covers only small spots that are few in number. Larger or more numerous spots do not fit it. When blood also reaches the white, art. 500 (item I) treats the egg as unfit for consumption, and blood spots have their own guide.
Where does a Category B egg go?
Industrial processing, and nothing else. The sole paragraph of art. 226 states that Category B eggs are intended exclusively for industrial processing, which takes them out of the table-egg market.
Do not confuse Category B with cracked or dirty eggs. A clean cracked egg whose shell membranes are intact goes to industrial processing as soon as possible (art. 227). A dirty cracked egg has no use for human food and must be discarded immediately (MAPA, question 5). See cracked eggs.
Can a Category A egg become Category B?
Yes, for commercial reasons. MAPA says that downgrading from Category A to B is the company's decision.
When a company does this, it must describe the practice in its self-control program and in the production flow of its Category B egg registration in PGA-SIGSIF (question 33). That keeps the downgrade traceable and auditable.
How do you tell a Category B egg on the line?
Most Category B criteria lie inside the egg, such as blood spots in the white and yolk. They only show on candling, which is mandatory (RIISPOA, art. 223). A surface camera cannot see these spots.
Vigiovo, for example, classifies each egg from the surface as clean, dirty, cracked or unverified. It does not assign Category B. So the A or B decision depends mainly on candling and on the company's records. Details in how it works.
Frequently asked questions
Can a Category B egg be sold as a table egg?
- No. Under RIISPOA, Category B eggs are intended exclusively for industrial processing (art. 226, sole paragraph). They do not go to sale as table eggs, even when they are harmless.
Can a company downgrade a Category A egg to B?
- Yes, as a commercial decision. MAPA says it is the company's decision, and when adopted it must be described in the self-control program and in the PGA-SIGSIF registration (question 33).
Where does a clean cracked egg go?
- If the shell is clean and the shell membranes are intact, the egg goes to industrial processing as soon as possible (RIISPOA, art. 227). If it is dirty and cracked, it must be discarded immediately (MAPA, question 5).
Sources
- Decreto nº 9.013/2017 (RIISPOA), Presidência da República (Brasil)
- Perguntas e respostas sobre a Portaria MAPA nº 612/2022 (versão de 05/06/2023), Ministério da Agricultura e Pecuária (MAPA)
How Vigiovo helps
Vigiovo grades eggs on the conveyor as clean, dirty, cracked or unverified, in real time, with deterministic computer vision: every decision comes with the measurements behind it, on an ordinary CPU.