8 ms·
Salmonella-in-eggs controversy
- bobleeswagger 4y agoI always thought salmonella risk came from poop that could be on the outer shell, so wash the eggs and you can safely eat them raw. Is this not true? I guess this story is related to the egg beaters product becoming popular, since it was pasteurized.
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- blakesterz 4y agoSo this is a weird one, and I have no idea why I remember this... https://www.abc.net.au/news/2008-05-15/gecko-in-chicken-egg-may-be-salmonella-breakthrough/2437340 https://www.abc.net.au/news/2008-05-15/gecko-in-chicken-egg-... Gecko in chicken egg may be salmonella breakthrough The Northern Territory president of the Australian Medical Association says he may have accidentally discovered how the potentially deadly salmonella bacteria gets inside chicken eggs.
- dEnigma 4y agoTIL the word "chook" chook noun plural noun: chooks 1.informal•Australian a chicken or fowl.
- lll-o-lll 4y agoJust in case people are confused by how to pronounce this, it is oo as in book, not moo. If you are from northern England/Scotland that probably won’t help you much though. It’s also used in a range of phrases such as “you silly old chook!”
- version_five 4y agoThat was your main learning from that article ;)? Not that a gecko can apparently climb up a chickens cloaca and have an egg shell formed around them? I didn't really have a clear mental picture of how eggs are formed, but whatever I did have certainly didn't admit the possibility that something could climb in before the shell arrived. Nature is pretty amazing
- senectus1 4y agolol Sometimes I forget our language colloquialisms can be really alien to others. Chook is such an every day usage word in my part of the world.. "Cooked chook" (roast chicken) "silly chook" (silly woman) etc etc
- anitil 4y agoI thought maybe I had imagined this!
- junga 4y agoI understood that washing eggs also removes a protective skin from the eggs that would otherwise stop bacteria from passing the shell. Maybe it's a chicken and egg problem then.
- yktyejrwteyrt 4y agothe problem is washing the eggs prior to distribution. eggs should be washed just before use and not before, but in the us we wash them before shipping
- ars 4y agoThe protective coating is just oil. Best option is wash them at packaging plant and then spray with oil to regain the protection. Which is, in fact, what the US does.
- galangalalgol 4y agoWhat kind of oil? Is there any chance of it getting into the egg?
- ars 4y agoIt can also be inside the egg: "Salmonella also can contaminate the egg’s contents while it is forming inside the chicken before shells are formed. Today, a lot fewer egg-laying hens have this problem than during the 1980s and 1990s, so eggs are safer. But some eggs are still contaminated with Salmonella." https://www.cdc.gov/foodsafety/communication/salmonella-and-eggs.html https://www.cdc.gov/foodsafety/communication/salmonella-and-...
- contravariant 4y agoAs far as I've been able to tell salmonella is capable of entering the inside of the egg through the shell, but whether this is the reason eggs are either washed immediately or not at all is something I've not been able to figure out. Salmonella happens to have some tricks to invade various types of tissue, but I don't know if that is related, or even unique to salmonella.
- askvictor 4y agoEggs sold in the US are illegal to sell in the EU. Eggs sold in the EU are illegal to sell in the US. The US mandates washing eggs; the EU forbids it. The rationale being to force egg farmers to raise their hens in more sanitary conditions where the eggs won't get covered in crap in the first place (since consumers are less likely to buy eggs covered in crap).
- foobar1962 4y agoI believe the rationale for NOT washing eggs is that the process removes a natural coating that prevents bacteria from passing through the shell into the egg contents (the white and yolk), but this leaves the outside of the egg potentially (probably) covered with harmful bacteria.
- throwaway1777 4y agoThis is correct. And also why eggs are refrigerated in the us but not in europe
- YeGoblynQueenne 4y agoDepends. I put mine in the fridge soon as I get them. They last longer that way. But you're right that the super market displays them on ordinary (not refrigerated) shelves.
- ars 4y agoSort of. In the US they refrigerate the eggs not because of some coating but in case there is salmonella it's less likely to spread. You don't actually need to refrigerate eggs in the US if you never eat them raw. I have not refrigerated mine in decades - I buy them, then just leave them on the counter.
- zajio1am 4y agoHere in europe eggs are sold refrigerated. Some people keep them refrigerated, some people do not.
- zug_zug 4y agoWhat am I missing? The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food expressed anger towards Currie's comments and the Department of Health was unable to back up her claims.[1] In addition, the Ministry of Agriculture had previously tested eggs without finding any salmonella. The chance of becoming ill with salmonella was put at less than 1 in 200 million.[8]
- user982 4y agoThe last paragraph is of interest: In December 2001, a Whitehall report was revealed that had been produced in February 1989, two months after Currie's resignation, and covered up by the government. The report found that there had been a "salmonella epidemic of considerable proportions". However, Chief Medical Officer for England, Donald Acheson had urged at the time that the word "epidemic" should not be used except "in a technical sense".
- thrusong 4y agoI drink a lot of whiskey sours with raw egg whites in them, like all day every Saturday. I like those odds!
- vorpalhex 4y agoI think the research still suggests that while alchohol is pretty good at killing most things, cocktails don't sit long enough for the alcohol to do much and you'd need to be 100+ proof.
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- ofalkaed 4y agoFreshly laid eggs have no salmonella in them. Despite what many think egg shells are permeable, stuff gets through them, and eggs when laid generally have a fair amount of blood and shit on them which do have salmonella in them. If kept dry and at a reasonably even temperature than this is no problem. But say you stick those fresh unwashed eggs in the fridge, when you take them out moisture will condense on them and absorb into the shell along with anything on the shell, so general wisdom has always been to never refrigerate unwashed eggs. Problem with not refrigerating eggs is that they start change after a few weeks, going bad is not the proper term, less fresh would be more apt, another few weeks and things start turning green (Dr Seuss did not invent those green eggs) and are still not bad in the sense of not being able to eat them but they are far from appetizing in anyway. Modern world requires eggs to last longer, could be 3 months before an egg hits the shelf at the grocery store, so we wash them and keep them refrigerated. Salmonella is still on the shell of washed eggs, most comes off with the bloom (the coating on a fresh egg) but the bloom is not perfect. So we keep our washed eggs in the fridge to slow growth and store the eggs in a carton which can absorb anything which condenses on them when you take them out of the fridge. The best by date on an egg carton mostly refers to raw consumption, moisture in the fridge and moisture that condenses on the shell when you take them out will slowly seep into the egg and carry the salmonella into the part we eat and where the salmonella can grow and multiply to dangerous levels for raw. If you have gone past the use by date you may want to skip those soft boiled or sunny side up eggs but they are fine for more firmly cooked eggs and probably fine for soft boiled and sunny side up unless you are well past the use by date.
- krick 4y agoI feel like this comment should have been read out loud to me somewhere back at school. That's the most comprehensive guide to "how to interpret best by date on an egg carton" I've ever seen. Thanks.
- margalabargala 4y ago> But say you stick those fresh unwashed eggs in the fridge, when you take them out moisture will condense on them and absorb into the shell along with anything on the shell, so general wisdom has always been to never refrigerate unwashed eggs. Do you have a source on this? I'm having trouble finding anything that says refrigerating unwashed eggs has any effect other than simply helping them last longer. Maybe the general wisdom refers to taking eggs from the fridge and storing them on the counter, rather than using them?
- greenie_beans 4y agothere better be a turd scrap or some feather on my eggs edit: i'm getting down voted for saying that i want eggs directly from a small farm
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- r3trohack3r 4y agoThis is a tangent, but Wikipedia is my favorite place for fun facts. Many people I’ve talked to don’t know that Wikipedia has a random button, which will take you to a random article. It’s one of the best ways to kill an afternoon. If the noise/ratio per roll of the random button is too high for you, I built an infinite scroll version of Wikipedia for myself using a similar mechanism, you’re free to use it: http://wikiscroll.blankenship.io/ http://wikiscroll.blankenship.io/
- throwaway892238 4y agoSalmonella gives you bacterial gastroenteritis, aka food poisoning. Vulnerable people may be hospitalized, very few die. Most people just shit/vomit and are soon better. It's not fun, but it's also not something to freak out about, for healthy people. Wash your hands with soap and water after handling eggs, poultry, pork, birds, reptiles, or really, just... any time it's convenient. Eat fresh foods. Cook pork and chicken.... enough... and if you don't, just make sure it's fairly fresh and was handled by a reputable source.
- drtz 4y ago> CDC estimates Salmonella bacteria cause about 1.35 million infections, 26,500 hospitalizations, and 420 deaths in the United States every year. Food is the source for most of these illnesses. https://www.cdc.gov/salmonella/index.html https://www.cdc.gov/salmonella/index.html ~2% chance of an infection leading to hospitalization sounds pretty bad to me.
- alexjplant 4y agoWhen I lived in a rural area I ate hundreds of raw eggs from backyard chickens without issue (though I'd always rinse the shell before cracking). They typically have orange yolks and are rich in flavor so they taste great whisked in a glass with hot or Worcestershire sauce, at the bottom of a beer, in bourbon flips and whiskey sours, on steak tartare, etc. I was always under the impression that the Salmonella thing was mostly a myth, but I'll be sure to do some additional research before resuming this practice.
- throwaway892238 4y agoYes, lots of infections, mostly mild. > 26,500 hospitalizations, and 420 deaths There are 33,000 automobile deaths in the US per year. You're more likely to die on the way to work than be hospitalized due to Salmonella. If you do end up in the hospital, you are unlikely to die.
- giraffe_lady 4y agoSomething I wish we had learned from covid is that just because you survive doesn't mean there are no consequences. I got salmonella in a verified outbreak almost 20 years ago and my digestion has never been quite the same.