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From what I've read, in the US eggs are washed and sprayed with sanitizer, to reduce risk of salmonella infection. Unfortunately, this increases the chances of
by metafunctor 10y ago
From what I've read, in the US eggs are washed and sprayed with sanitizer, to reduce risk of salmonella infection. Unfortunately, this increases the chances of bacteria seeping into the egg through the shell, as the shell's outside layers are damaged during washing.
In most European countries, salmonella is controlled in place of production, and egg production at least in the Nordics is salmonella free. There are strict controls and regulations in place to keep it that way. In this environment, the risks associated with egg washing outweigh the advantages.
- kakarot 10y agoYou can actually dip your eggs in mineral oil to recoat them! Then you can leave them out refrigerated just fine.
- askvictor 10y agoAnd turn the carton upside down every week or so, and you can keep them for 6 months or so ( I have heard)
- metafunctor 10y agoThis is interesting, because I don't understand why turning eggs would increase their shelf life. Does anyone know if this is actually works, and why?
- askvictor 10y agoI haven't tried, but supposedly the yolk slowly moves to the bottom. Soon after it touches the inside of the shell, it's game over. Inverting the eggs regularly keeps the yolks in the middle.
- brianwawok 10y agoThis is cool. I go through about 30 eggs a week though, so normal shelf life is pretty good for me.
- Symbiote 10y agoWhy are eggs sold in Denmark refrigerated? This surprised me, since I'm from the UK where they're kept at room temperature on a supermarket shelf.
- metafunctor 10y agoAs far as I know, in Denmark, eggs are produced unwashed and salmonella free. Supermarkets (unnecessarily) refrigerate them because customers expect that.
- semi-extrinsic 10y agoAlso true in Norway and Sweden. The funniest part is that IIRC, the "best before" date is based on storage at room temperature, due to EU regulations, but everyone in the Nordic countries keeps them refrigerated. But I thought Denmark had more of an issue with egg salmonella than Sweden and Norway? I've seen Danish cooking shows where they take care to use pasteurised eggs/yolks whenever they're not cooked in a recipe (like for mayonnaise), but never in Norway or Sweden.
- yason 10y agoIn Finland, some stores might stash eggs in refridgerated sections but overwhelmingly they're kept in room temperature. Salmonella is virtually non-existent in Finland. Eggs can generally be consumed even raw. That is because of a special stricter-than-usual control of poultry and egg production which effectively means that only Swedish and Danish eggs meet the import standards. Yet no eggs are imported to Finland anyway and the country is actually a net exporter.
- xorcist 10y agoPlenty of eggs are sold in room temperature in both Norway and Sweden. And neither country utilizes refrigerated transports, so there is no unbroken cold chain.
- ryao 10y ago