An egg and toothpaste experiment went viral on Instagram after a mom influencer shared a video doing the same. Turns out, it's fake.
A viral egg "experiment" has taken social media by storm, with users questioning its authenticity. The trick, which involves an uncooked egg, toothpaste, and aluminum foil, was shared by Yana Kuzmich.
Kuzmich is a digital creator known who shares hacks on her Instagram handle @awesome_motherhood. Her video, featuring her and her son "creating" a jelly-like egg, has amassed over 30 million views.
The video shows Kuzmich applying toothpaste to an egg in a bowl, covering it with aluminum foil, and leaving it for 24 hours. The next day, her son excitedly reveals a jelly-like egg, tossing it around with delight.
However, Jennifer Mencias-Munoz, a health science educator at the Children’s Museum in Houston, Texas, told Fox News Digital that the experiment is scientifically impossible with the components used. "Toothpaste is a base, and so is the egg. There’s no reaction between the two," she explained. Instead, she noted that a similar jelly-like effect can be achieved by soaking a raw egg in vinegar for 24 hours, which breaks down the calcium carbonate in the eggshell, resulting in a rubbery, translucent egg.
Don Riefler, a science educator at The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis, concurred, pointing out that calcium carbonate, which makes up eggshells, is also an ingredient in toothpaste. "If there’s no chemical reaction within the toothpaste itself, there certainly wouldn’t be one with an eggshell," he said.
Social media users were divided on the video's legitimacy. Some commenters expressed skepticism, while others admitted to falling for the prank. Kuzmich eventually confessed to Fox News Digital that the video was a joke, inspired by a similar trick she found online. Her son, she added, was "happily surprised" by the outcome.
Despite the debunking, the egg-and-toothpaste experiment has continued to circulate on social media, with some users truthfully revealing its falsehood and others maintaining the illusion. One TikTok user even demonstrated where to buy the rubber egg online, further exposing the prank.
