The short answer: it’s completely normal.
But the longer answer is far more interesting—and surprisingly important to how eggs work.
Meet the Chalaza: The Egg’s Built-In Support System
That mysterious white strand has a name: the chalaza.
Pronounced kuh-LAY-zuh, the chalaza is a natural part of the egg’s internal structure. In fact, every fresh egg contains at least one, and usually two.
Its job is simple but essential:
👉 It holds the yolk in place.
Think of it as the egg’s anchoring system—like tiny biological seatbelts keeping the yolk suspended in the center of the egg white.
Food
Why Eggs Need It in the First Place
To understand the chalaza, it helps to understand how an egg is structured.
Inside a raw egg, you have:
The shell (outer protection)Dairy & Eggs
The egg white (albumen)
The yolk (nutrient-rich center)
Membranes and internal structures
The yolk is lighter than you might expect and would naturally drift around inside the egg white if nothing held it in place.
That’s where the chalaza comes in.
Cooking & Recipes
ADVERTISEMENT
