6 ms·

I 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 t

I 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.

deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
blakesterz 4y ago
So 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 ago
  TIL the word "chook" chook noun plural noun: chooks 1.informal•Australian a chicken or fowl.
  - lll-o-lll 4y ago
    Just 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 ago
    That 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 ago
    lol 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 ago
  I thought maybe I had imagined this!
junga 4y ago
I 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 ago
  the 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 ago
  The 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 ago
    What kind of oil? Is there any chance of it getting into the egg?
ars 4y ago
It 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 ago
As 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 ago
Eggs 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 ago
  I 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 ago
    This is correct. And also why eggs are refrigerated in the us but not in europe
    - YeGoblynQueenne 4y ago
      Depends. 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 ago
      Sort 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 ago
      Here in europe eggs are sold refrigerated. Some people keep them refrigerated, some people do not.

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

blakesterz 4y ago

So 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 ago
TIL the word "chook" chook noun plural noun: chooks 1.informal•Australian a chicken or fowl.
- lll-o-lll 4y ago
  Just 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 ago
  That 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 ago
  lol 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 ago
I thought maybe I had imagined this!

junga 4y ago

I 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 ago
the 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 ago
The 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 ago
  What kind of oil? Is there any chance of it getting into the egg?

ars 4y ago

It 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 ago

As 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 ago

Eggs 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 ago
I 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 ago
  This is correct. And also why eggs are refrigerated in the us but not in europe
  - YeGoblynQueenne 4y ago
    Depends. 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 ago
    Sort 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 ago
    Here in europe eggs are sold refrigerated. Some people keep them refrigerated, some people do not.