Can an egg with an off-odour be sold? What the rules say

What does RIISPOA say about odour in eggs?

RIISPOA treats odour as a form of contamination. Eggs with dirt of faecal material, or that have been in contact with substances capable of transmitting strange odours or flavours, are unfit for human consumption as they are (art. 500, V).

Class A (art. 225) lists the shell, air cell, yolk, white and germ, but does not mention odour. So the odour rule comes from art. 500, not from the Class A requirements. In practice, the egg cannot be consumed as it is.

What does the EU regulation say about odour?

The EU regulation is more direct. Delegated Regulation (EU) 2023/2465 lists, among the Class A characteristics, that unintended foreign smell is not permitted (art. 3(1)(g)). A Class A egg that no longer has those characteristics must be downgraded to Class B (art. 3(2)).

The rule is sensory: it sets no intensity limit and no test method, and this guide does not invent one. So the decision rests on the team's assessment, not on a number.

Where does odour in an egg come from?

Odour usually comes from the environment the egg is kept in, not from inside it. The shell has pores, and the cuticle helps close them. An egg with a damaged cuticle may absorb more from its surroundings.

The sources the regulation cites are contact with substances capable of transmitting odours and dirt of faecal material (art. 500, V). On the farm and at the grading station, storage near strong-smelling products is the case the team can control most easily.

Can a camera detect odour?

No. A surface camera measures colour, shape and visible dirt, and none of those is odour. Vigiovo grades eggs as clean, dirty, cracked or unverified from the image, and does not measure smell or taste. Details in how it works.

The only odour-related thing a camera sees is visible dirt. When faecal material is on the shell, the egg is graded dirty, but the smell itself stays out of the camera's reach. The decision on odour rests with the team's assessment and the storage rules.

How do you reduce the risk of odour in eggs?

Control is a matter of process: storage and handling, which the team can change. The measures below are general practice, with no fixed numbers:

1. Keep eggs away from strong-smelling products, such as chemicals and cleaning materials.
2. Remove eggs with faecal dirt from the line, since the regulation treats them as unfit (art. 500, V).
3. Record the batches in which an odour is noticed, to trace its source in the shed, the transport or the store.
4. Run sensory assessment by the team at fixed times, and record the result.

If the problem comes with dirt on the shell, see the guide to dirty eggs. It covers what the camera measures and what it does not.

Frequently asked questions

Can an egg with a strange smell be sold for consumption?

Not under Brazilian rules. RIISPOA considers an egg that has been in contact with substances capable of transmitting strange odours unfit for human consumption as it is (art. 500, V). In the European Union, unintended foreign smell is not permitted in Class A.

Can the Vigiovo camera detect smell?

No. Vigiovo analyses the image of the shell and grades the egg as clean, dirty, cracked or unverified, based on colour, shape and visible dirt. It does not measure odour or taste, so detecting smell depends on the team's assessment and on storage control.

Where does odour usually form?

The rules cite contact with substances capable of transmitting odours, and dirt of faecal material (RIISPOA, art. 500, V). In practice the risk lies in storage and handling, which the team controls. So prevention is an ongoing process, not a one-off inspection.

Sources

1. Decreto nº 9.013/2017 (RIISPOA), Presidência da República (Brasil)
2. Delegated Regulation (EU) 2023/2465, marketing standards for eggs, EUR-Lex