Candling is the process of using light to help determine the quality of an egg. Automated mass scanning equipment is used by our egg packers to detect eggs with cracked shells and/or interior defects. During candling, eggs travel along a conveyor belt and pass over a light source where the defects become visible.
Defective eggs are removed by trained operators.
Hand candling - holding a shell egg directly in front of a light source - is done to spot check and determine accuracy in grading. Advanced technology, utilizing computerized integrated cameras and sound wave technology, is also being applied for the segregation of defective eggs.