I stood over the pan, fork in hand, completely unsure whether to eat or walk away. Those small, cloudy lumps looked wrong. My first instinct was disgust, followed by fear that something at the store had gone terribly wrong. So I did what most people do in a moment of panic: I started searching for answers, bracing myself for the worst.

What I found was the opposite. Food experts explain that these white, jelly-like clumps are usually harmless deposits of calcium or protein formed naturally as the egg develops. They can show up more often when hens are stressed or fed nutrient-rich, calcium-heavy diets. In other words, the egg wasn’t rotten, diseased, or unsafe—it was just imperfect in a perfectly normal way. I didn’t just keep my breakfast; I kept a little more peace of mind every time I crack an egg now.