5 ms·

In the US people are super paranoid about food as compared to most of the EU (and probably other places as well). Americans keep eggs, fruit, cured meats and ja

In the US people are super paranoid about food as compared to most of the EU (and probably other places as well). Americans keep eggs, fruit, cured meats and jam in the fridge as well.

jasonwatkinspdx 6y ago
In the US eggs sold retail are required to be pressure washed. This removes the waxy coating that makes the egg airtight. So in the US eggs absolutely do need to go in the fridge, unless you have your own chickens or such. At room temp they'll spoil within about 2 days. It depends on the fruit but many of them will last longer in the fridge. Same goes for cured meat and jams. Especially with jam you may not eat it often enough to stop it from molding at room temps. I get making fun of stupid American habits is an EU pastime, but this is some pretty dumb stereotyping. There's rational reasons behind what most people are doing, even if it's a little different from the habits where you live.
- omginternets 6y ago
  >but this is some pretty dumb stereotyping It's hardly stereotyping. By your own admission, its representative of the norm. But your explanation is well-taken. Nevertheless, it speaks to the greater point: people (especially in the US) have become disconnected from their foods. Much of this appears to be structural, as you have pointed out.
  - jasonwatkinspdx 6y ago
    It's easy to overgeneralize. If you want to believe that everyone is disconnected from food, you'll find confirmation of that. If instead you point to the farm to table movement, and the huge popularity of authentic/artisanal foods among anyone in the US with disposable income, and you'd come to the opposite conclusion. Both are painting with too broad a brush.
- ajnin 6y ago
  > In the US eggs sold retail are required to be pressure washed. That's interesting. In France it is actually illegal to sell washed eggs. As a result they can be kept easily a month without refrigeration. I wonder why there is such a different practice.
  - jasonwatkinspdx 6y ago
    The biggest difference between US and EU chicken production is use, or not use of, vaccines and antibiotics to control salmonella. The US approach is, for better or worse, to use regulation of the slaughterhouse to control such pathogens, vs inoculation. The situation with eggs is similar. The French approach results in cleaner but more expensive eggs. I'd prefer that personally, but there is a logic behind the US regulatory approach that shouldn't just be dismissed without thought.
radicalbyte 6y ago
Americans keep eggs in the fridge because American farming regulations result in eggs covered in poo, which need to be washed. The washing process destroys the protective layer of the egg, which means that it will spoilt outside of the fridge. In Europe our regulations mean that the chickens are kept in much cleaner conditions; our eggs don't need to be cleaned so keep their protective layer and can be kept outside of the fridge.
- phonypc 6y ago
  The important difference is that European chickens are mostly vaccinated against salmonella. Eggs and poop ultimately travel though the same orifice, so if the chicken has salmonella the egg is likely to be contaminated even if there isn't visible poop on it.
  - infinite8s 6y ago
    This is not quite true. While eggs and poop come out of the same orifice, while laying the egg the uterus extends a bit out of the body, so there's no chance the egg would come into contact with poop.
    - hedora 6y ago
      You have obviously never owned chickens. Chickens make a sport of pooping where they should not. Eggs, food, and drinking water are all fair game. If you were thinking like a chicken, you’d see that it’s inevitable: at some point in time, the egg is under the butt. One of the most important rules of being a chicken is to make sure that any clean thing under the butt is immediately pooped on. The only known exception to this rule is other chickens. I’ve never seen a chicken poop on another chicken.
frosted-flakes 6y ago
I think you're somewhat misinformed. Unlike in Europe, American chickens eggs are washed and need to be refrigerated in order to not go bad (it's more common for American chickens to have salmonella, which is also why you shouldn't eat raw eggs in America). Some fruits (such as apples or pineapples) simply taste better cold, and some fruits do last longer if refrigerated. That's important if you go grocery shopping every two weeks, which is quite normal in America. Canned jam is never refrigerated, but once opened it always is, and I'm sure that's the case everywhere. Cured meats, like jerky? No one refrigerates that.
- morsch 6y ago
  I usually put jam in the fridge, now, but we never used to when I was a kid. We go through jam fast enough that it's probably unnecessary now, but why risk it... Then again I have like twice as much fridge space as we used to back then.
- tastyfreeze 6y ago
  One correction, enviromentally salmonella is just as common in the EU as the US. Chickens in the US are not immunized for salmonella like they are everywhere else that regulates the egg industry. Foreign chicken immunization requirements and US egg washing requirements started around the same time in response to salmonella outbreaks. Both are effective mitigations. However, immunizing and not washing has an added benefit of incentivizing producers to keep eggs clean.
  - frosted-flakes 6y ago
    That's what I mean, European chickens don't have salmonella because they're vaccinated. Not washing the eggs has the additional advantage that they don't need to be refrigerated.
    - tastyfreeze 6y ago
      I agree. I would like to see the USDA add vaccination as an allowed salmonella mitigation. Then farmers would at least have a choice.

In the US people are super paranoid about food as compared to most of the EU (and probably other places as well). Americans keep eggs, fruit, cured meats and jam in the fridge as well.

jasonwatkinspdx 6y ago

In the US eggs sold retail are required to be pressure washed. This removes the waxy coating that makes the egg airtight. So in the US eggs absolutely do need to go in the fridge, unless you have your own chickens or such. At room temp they'll spoil within about 2 days. It depends on the fruit but many of them will last longer in the fridge. Same goes for cured meat and jams. Especially with jam you may not eat it often enough to stop it from molding at room temps. I get making fun of stupid American habits is an EU pastime, but this is some pretty dumb stereotyping. There's rational reasons behind what most people are doing, even if it's a little different from the habits where you live.

omginternets 6y ago
>but this is some pretty dumb stereotyping It's hardly stereotyping. By your own admission, its representative of the norm. But your explanation is well-taken. Nevertheless, it speaks to the greater point: people (especially in the US) have become disconnected from their foods. Much of this appears to be structural, as you have pointed out.
- jasonwatkinspdx 6y ago
  It's easy to overgeneralize. If you want to believe that everyone is disconnected from food, you'll find confirmation of that. If instead you point to the farm to table movement, and the huge popularity of authentic/artisanal foods among anyone in the US with disposable income, and you'd come to the opposite conclusion. Both are painting with too broad a brush.
ajnin 6y ago
> In the US eggs sold retail are required to be pressure washed. That's interesting. In France it is actually illegal to sell washed eggs. As a result they can be kept easily a month without refrigeration. I wonder why there is such a different practice.
- jasonwatkinspdx 6y ago
  The biggest difference between US and EU chicken production is use, or not use of, vaccines and antibiotics to control salmonella. The US approach is, for better or worse, to use regulation of the slaughterhouse to control such pathogens, vs inoculation. The situation with eggs is similar. The French approach results in cleaner but more expensive eggs. I'd prefer that personally, but there is a logic behind the US regulatory approach that shouldn't just be dismissed without thought.

radicalbyte 6y ago

Americans keep eggs in the fridge because American farming regulations result in eggs covered in poo, which need to be washed. The washing process destroys the protective layer of the egg, which means that it will spoilt outside of the fridge. In Europe our regulations mean that the chickens are kept in much cleaner conditions; our eggs don't need to be cleaned so keep their protective layer and can be kept outside of the fridge.

phonypc 6y ago
The important difference is that European chickens are mostly vaccinated against salmonella. Eggs and poop ultimately travel though the same orifice, so if the chicken has salmonella the egg is likely to be contaminated even if there isn't visible poop on it.
- infinite8s 6y ago
  This is not quite true. While eggs and poop come out of the same orifice, while laying the egg the uterus extends a bit out of the body, so there's no chance the egg would come into contact with poop.
  - hedora 6y ago
    You have obviously never owned chickens. Chickens make a sport of pooping where they should not. Eggs, food, and drinking water are all fair game. If you were thinking like a chicken, you’d see that it’s inevitable: at some point in time, the egg is under the butt. One of the most important rules of being a chicken is to make sure that any clean thing under the butt is immediately pooped on. The only known exception to this rule is other chickens. I’ve never seen a chicken poop on another chicken.

frosted-flakes 6y ago

I think you're somewhat misinformed. Unlike in Europe, American chickens eggs are washed and need to be refrigerated in order to not go bad (it's more common for American chickens to have salmonella, which is also why you shouldn't eat raw eggs in America). Some fruits (such as apples or pineapples) simply taste better cold, and some fruits do last longer if refrigerated. That's important if you go grocery shopping every two weeks, which is quite normal in America. Canned jam is never refrigerated, but once opened it always is, and I'm sure that's the case everywhere. Cured meats, like jerky? No one refrigerates that.

morsch 6y ago
I usually put jam in the fridge, now, but we never used to when I was a kid. We go through jam fast enough that it's probably unnecessary now, but why risk it... Then again I have like twice as much fridge space as we used to back then.
tastyfreeze 6y ago
One correction, enviromentally salmonella is just as common in the EU as the US. Chickens in the US are not immunized for salmonella like they are everywhere else that regulates the egg industry. Foreign chicken immunization requirements and US egg washing requirements started around the same time in response to salmonella outbreaks. Both are effective mitigations. However, immunizing and not washing has an added benefit of incentivizing producers to keep eggs clean.
- frosted-flakes 6y ago
  That's what I mean, European chickens don't have salmonella because they're vaccinated. Not washing the eggs has the additional advantage that they don't need to be refrigerated.
  - tastyfreeze 6y ago
    I agree. I would like to see the USDA add vaccination as an allowed salmonella mitigation. Then farmers would at least have a choice.