I was astounded when I first heard about counterfeit eggs, which are sold throughout China and have been a problem since the mid-’90s. The egg white is made from a mixture of resin, starch, coagulant and pigments, while the egg yolk is made from resin and pigments. Counterfeit eggs are unusual in that they do not involve a trademark.
The best way to tell if an egg is fake is by the shape of the shell, which is uniformly too perfect and often larger than a real shell. The shell is made from paraffin wax, gypsum powder and calcium carbonate. Another way to tell its fake is by cracking it open. The fakes make a hollower sound and the egg white and yolk quickly turn into a mixture.
There are many good videos on fake eggs on YouTube.
However, Josh Tetrick founder of Hampton Creek Foods has come up with an edible, safe product called Beyond Eggs. Now Tetrick’s Beyond Eggs doesn’t involve counterfeiting because he isn’t trying to palm off the product as real eggs. Beyond Eggs are egg substitutes and are made from plant protein.
Tetrick, who is thirty-five, developed the idea for Hampton Creek with a friend in 2011. After securing funding, Hampton Creek was launched and is based in San Francisco. Tetrick wants to change the global food industry that he feels is a mess. He also wants to encourage people to eat healthy. Hampton Creek has a staff that includes two engineers, six biochemists, and 11 food scientists.