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My brother in law is a small-scale farmer in Wales and produces chicken and duck eggs. I've previously discussed egg washing with him. My understanding from su
by webignition 10y ago
My brother in law is a small-scale farmer in Wales and produces chicken and duck eggs. I've previously discussed egg washing with him.
My understanding from such conversations is that eggs in the EU are definitely not washed.
Supermarket caged-hen eggs are generally clean in appearance due to the lack of items that might otherwise stick to the them.
I have found free range supermarket eggs, on the other hand, to sometimes have small features stuck to them.
I'm not sure what accounts for the generally clean appearance of supermarket eggs. Maybe eggs are brushed in some manner to remove obvious dirt. But the washing of eggs is certainly not a legal practice in the EU.
- jon-wood 10y agoIt wouldn't surprise me if supermarket eggs are just selected, with any that aren't clean being thrown out.
- Reason077 10y agoHere in the UK, when buying free-range supermarket eggs you definitely get the occasional egg with small bits of feather or poop stuck to them. It's uncommon but it happens - they aren't throwing out the dirty ones.
- justincormack 10y agoI think they are automatically removed from the birds immediately, so they dont get dirty. I have had eggs from farmers that are very mucky...
- pvaldes 10y agoIf you wash and, worse, brush a porous surface, you are pushing the water and dirt directly inside the egg. If there is not a lot of dirt on the egg surface is healthier to let the egg as is. In the other hand, you can have perfectly clean eggs if 1) you use a modern nesting box designed to hide the eggs and 2) provide independent sleeping areas higher to discourage the hens to sleep in the nesting boxes. You could also scratch the surface with an old credit card or a knife but is better not to use water. Storing eggs in the fridge is also convenient, eggs shells shouldn't be in contact with other eggs.