Why Is The Egg In A McMuffin Round (And Is It Even A Real Egg?)

Eggs destined for McDonald’s.

In its latest installment of, “Don’t be freaked out by our food” videos, McDonald’s is taking on the question of whether or not it uses real eggs. Because if you’ve ever wondered or heard that the egg in a McMuffin is round because it was sliced off some kind of mechanically formed roll of egg-like stuff, you’re not alone.

You’re not alone, but that’s not actually the case, as McDonald’s shows in its latest video in a series taking a peek behind the grease curtain.

As one of McDonald’s chicken suppliers explains in the video, there are two different kinds of eggs that come out of their facilities and into Mickey D’s restaurants everywhere: Whole eggs in the shell, which are used for egg McMuffins; and liquid eggs that are used in other products like McGriddles, scrambled eggs and breakfast burritos.

Liquid eggs get individually cracked by machines that look like they belong in Edward Scissorhands, chilled and then sent off in silo trucks to distribution centers.

Those eggs deemed just the right size — neither too big nor too small — for McMuffins are inspected by shining lights inside them to check for defects, before they’re refrigerated and shipped out.

When the eggs arrive at McDonald’s, they’re prepared fresh every day for egg McMuffins (excluding egg white McMuffins), and are cracked into round molds to make the right shape for stacking into sandwiches and cooked up on the griddle. That’s why they’re round, and not because of what could only be an unsavory eggloaf situation.

For more eggs, watch the video below.