WHETHER it will work on chocolate Easter eggs is unclear. But down on the farm, a new technique could soon help poultry farmers to spot which newly laid eggs will later crack before they get anywhere near the packing plant.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a major problem,鈥� says Ian Dunn of the Roslin Institute in Edinburgh, UK, joint head of a team developing the technique. He says that about 10 per cent of eggs are lost through shell breakage.
Cracked eggs cost farmers and packers money, and pose a hazard to consumers because they allow potentially dangerous bacteria to get in, says Dunn, whose team is collaborating with researchers at the Catholic University of Leuven (KUL) in Belgium.
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鈥淭he key to spotting weak shells is a machine that uses a pulse of sound to tap them鈥�
The key to spotting weak-shelled eggs is a machine that uses a pulse of sound energy to 鈥渢ap鈥� each egg, and make the eggshell resonate. By analysing the frequency of the resonance, the sensor can determine the condition of the eggshell. 鈥淚t gives us the ability to predict the likelihood the egg will crack,鈥� says Dunn, whose results will be published in British Poultry Science.
