
Why the U.S. Chills Its Eggs and Most of the World Doesn't (2014) - longdefeat
https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2014/09/11/336330502/why-the-u-s-chills-its-eggs-and-most-of-the-world-doesnt
======
taneq
Because they scrub the protective coating off them, making them much more
vulnerable to spoiling. #stopclickbait

Australia only started washing eggs recently, in the last 10-20 years. Before
then you could leave eggs on the bench for 2+ weeks with no issues, now they
need to be refrigerated if you're going to keep them longer than a couple of
weeks. It's silly.

~~~
justasitsounds
I can't recall ever seeing refrigerated eggs in Australia. Where do you find
them?

~~~
stevejb
Just bought some from Coles.

~~~
sundvor
But at Coles, they're not sold in refrigerated sections. At least the ones
I've been to in Melbourne.

Bought free range eggs at Coles yesterday. I still put them in the fridge when
I get home out of habit; not sure why now. :)

Edit: Found this article, probably inspired by TFA linked to story.
[https://www.businessinsider.com.au/should-you-refrigerate-
eg...](https://www.businessinsider.com.au/should-you-refrigerate-eggs-in-
australia-2014-7)

~~~
helloindia
I stopped refrigerating eggs, when i found out I can make better fried eggs if
they're at room temperature. :)

"if you keep your eggs in the fridge, then you should let them come to room
temperature before cooking – if you start with a cold egg, then you're more
likely to end up overcooking the yolk trying to get the white to set."

[https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2012/no...](https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2012/nov/08/how-
to-cook-the-perfect-fried-egg)

~~~
bdamm
Huh. Now here's news I can use!

------
starbugs
European (German) here. Though I've been traveling to the US a couple of times
I've never realized the fact that eggs are washed and refrigerated there. Here
in Germany eggs come with a best-before date and an additional date stating
when you should put them in the refrigerator. Example for eggs bought in the
second half of March: best before April 16 2019, chill from April 10 2019.

I usually put eggs in the fridge once I got them from the grocery store, so
they will last a bit longer. I've never run into any issues with this and it
seems to be way less energy-intensive.

------
cmroanirgo
Thanks for this post: I've always wondered why I don't have a problem with
eating eggs from my backyard hens, even after a couple of weeks sitting on my
benchtop, whereas the supermarkets always have them chilled (I'm in Oz). I
never knew about the thin film layer on the outside!

~~~
ergothus
Honest question: how do you clean your eggs? Chickens are not fastidious about
where they poop.

~~~
belorn
When you have 6-20 hens the issue is a bit different from several hundreds.
The nesting box tends to be pretty clean and you put in fresh hay to encourage
them to lay the eggs there rather than some hidden part of the yard (a
constant risk, and spoiled eggs smells similar to that of a decomposing animal
except it seems to continues forever).

They don't tend to poop when laying eggs and usually leave the nest imminently
when done, being quite loud and signaling to the rest of the troop. Collecting
a newly laid egg becomes a bit of routine, and I get a feeling so is the
laying of an egg by the hens.

Working with animals you also do get a bit more used to chicken poop and just
deal with it if an egg here and there is not perfectly clean. I tend to wash
those before using them in cooking. It is pretty fair trade for getting:
"free" eggs, insect management in the garden, weed removal, and naturally
enjoyment of having social animals.

~~~
cmroanirgo
As you say, where the chickens lay is always scrupulously clean (--They keep
it that way, moreso than us). The boxes are elevated and they go there just to
lay (& tend to sleep nearby, but elsewhere). I've never had poo on the eggs:
but even if there were, I'd pretty much ignore it.

~~~
dkersten
My parents kept chickens when I was growing up and this is what I remember
too, from all the times I was tasked with collecting eggs from the (elevated)
boxes.

------
Jerry2
It's funny that if you tried to sell US eggs in the UK, they'd be illegal, and
the UK eggs would be illegal in the US.

But Japan has the best eggs and you can eat them raw or half-cooked without
any fear of salmonella.

~~~
TheRealPomax
There are plenty of countries where you can eat the eggs raw. You just need
eggs laid by chickens in a normal environment, rather than from the insanely
messed up industrial chicken industry that some western countries have opted
for.

~~~
selestify
How does industrial chicken rearing change the quality of the eggs such that
it's no longer edible raw?

~~~
petre
They feed the chickens concentrates and keep them in locked up in "batteries".
Some of them die there and they're not removed immediately. There are plenty
of horrid videos on Youtube.

Compare that to a soil growing chickens that scrape around for worms and eat
grass, corn, wheat and leftovers from the kitchen. In fact that's the best
part: you can feed them most most vegetable leftovers as long as they're
fresh. Only the younger ones need to be fed some concentrates until they grow
up because they're quite vulnerable to diseases carried by other birds,
especially pigeons.

~~~
benj111
"Some of them die there and they're not removed immediately"

In the US I don't believe you have to remove the dead chickens before
introducing a new generation of chickens to the shed.

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dmh2000
it's funny how folks from different countries throw shade on the ones that
treat their eggs differently, as if that is an indication of which country is
better. Every few months a thread on Reddit gets this going. Nice to see an
article that says that both approaches work about the same.

~~~
oliwarner
Don't mistake it for blind nationalism.

I think EU countries are proud that they can achieve desirable outcomes like
long-life, safe-raw, unrefrigerated eggs, through desirable practices. The
EU's production is over 40% free range, an increasing chunk organic and
depending on where you are, a choice in breed.

If those are the sorts of things that you care about, it is only right to
"throw shade" on counties like the US, where 82%(!) of their layers are caged
and you _have to_ disinfect the eggs because of their awful conditions.

------
HelloFellowDevs
I was originally introduced to the concept of non refrigerated eggs on an
episode of the Netflix (branded but not) Original The Big Family Cooking
Showdown [0]. They did a home visit and I thought it was weird that they kept
their eggs in a box near the windowsill. Obviously since it was common
practice they didn't give a background about why it's done that was in
England. I've since seen more than a fair share of cooking shows based abroad
that have that same unrefrigerated eggs technique, in the back of my mind I'm
thinking about the general shelf life and temperature that's needed to keep
the eggs from spoiling.

[0]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Big_Family_Cooking_Showdow...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Big_Family_Cooking_Showdown)

~~~
sitharus
Coming from an unrefrigerated country eggs last 4-6 weeks on the shelf at room
temperature (<25°C) from laying date, so generally 3-4 after purchase. Not
sure how long they last after washing + refrigeration but I assume it's pretty
much the same.

~~~
arcticbull
3-5 weeks in the fridge and a year in the freezer [1].

[1] [https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/how-long-do-eggs-
last](https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/how-long-do-eggs-last)

~~~
cs02rm0
People from all over the world are reading this, just about coming to terms
with the idea that Americans store eggs in the fridge and now you're saying
they'd put them in the freezer? A step too far!

~~~
arcticbull
Honestly posting that link was the first time I'd ever heard of someone
putting an egg in the freezer. Kinda grossed out right now, not gonna lie.

~~~
Aromasin
They're honestly exactly the same provided you let them thaw slowly first.
Forewarning, I once I tried freezing the eggs in their shells and they
exploded all over my freezer. Would not recommend.

I don't eat eggs anymore, but when I did back in my bodybuilding days I'd have
containers with raw egg which I'd dump into boiling water for my poached eggs
in the morning. These turned out alright. For scrambled eggs or omelettes,
putting them in the pan still frozen is a recipe for disaster.

------
trumbitta2
I buy them not refrigerated, and put them in the fridge at home because where
I live "room temperature" can easily go as high as over 40C.

South Sardinia, Italy.

------
drewmol
One thing this article doesn't touch on: the most obvious methed for detecting
spoiled eggs is the smell of hydrogen sulfide. Refrigeration increases shelf
life but detecting presence of a sulfurous smell is more difficult when the
egg is refrigerated. If freshness is in question then allowing the egg to
reach room temp prior to giving it 'the sniff test' is recommended.

~~~
astura
I've always just done the float test, I don't know how reliable that is
though.

~~~
bacon_waffle
Totally not an expert on eggs nor salmonella, but I've lived in some really
dry places and eaten plenty months-old eggs without getting sick from them...
The time-to-fail-float-test seems like it's as much about the relative
humidity where the egg is stored, as it is about the age of the egg.

I think grandma's advice is probably best: Don't crack eggs straight in to
whatever you're making. Easier to fish out shell pieces, and you're not going
to accidentally mix in a rotten egg.

~~~
Arn_Thor
Nobody told me your grandma's advice, I had to learn that the hard way. In a
week I spoiled two omelets and wasted 8 eggs because the last one I cracked
into the pan was rotten—twice! Now I always crack each egg into a small bowl
before mixing them

------
sverige
Wow, wait till you hear about unrefrigerated milk!

[https://newrepublic.com/article/119086/europes-
unrefrigerate...](https://newrepublic.com/article/119086/europes-
unrefrigerated-uht-milk-could-help-save-environment)

~~~
mamon
Long shelf life might be desireable, but the UHT process has a really bad
effect on taste. I prefer buying fresh, short expiration date milk.

~~~
petre
The UHT process destroys milk proteins. I'd rather eat maturated cheese than
drink UHT milk any day.

~~~
majkinetor
It doesn't destroy them - it denatures them meaning they have different form
and size etc. You still have the same amino acids in there which is, if we
believe in digestive science, all that we need (your body will also break the
protein).

I am sure things are more complex then that simple explanation. While I expect
less nutrition from UHT milk (vitamins are degraded on higher temperatures,
fat globules change their structure etc) its probably safest option out there.

I prefer goat milk. Goats usually eat more diverse food, their milk is more
similar to human milk than that of cow, is less industrialized etc.

------
tdeck
Crazy fact from the 19th century: if you store unwashed eggs in a slaked lime
solution, they will last more than a year unrefrigerated:

[https://youtu.be/yUYgguMz1qI](https://youtu.be/yUYgguMz1qI)

~~~
bjackman
To this day in Chinese and related cuisines there is a technique for
chemically preserving eggs:
[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Century_egg](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Century_egg)

They're quite odd!

------
zie
This really sucks if you are homeless and don't have a refrigerator. Another
great source of protein unavailable. (as once it's washed, you can't safely
keep them at room temp anymore).

~~~
DoreenMichele
If you are homeless, a much bigger problem is that raw eggs are fragile,
easily broken and make a mess when broken. Plus most homeless people have no
means to cook.

If you are homeless but living in a vehicle and have some means to cook, there
are ways around such issues. For example, you can store cold items in a
cooler, no refrigerator required.

When I was homeless and sleeping in a tent, we sometimes kept perishables for
short periods by leaving them outside the tent overnight in cold weather or
keeping them in the backpack and keeping it out of the sun. If careful, butter
sometimes stayed semi solid for a few days.

Modern refrigeration is not the only possible solution. It's just the most
familiar for most Americans.

~~~
kkarakk
you can eat raw eggs

~~~
DoreenMichele
Of course you can. You can also eat raw meat. Most people don't.

Plus, a high percentage of homeless Americans have serious health issues. If
you are, for example, being treated for cancer, you aren't supposed to eat,
for example, raw cookie dough because of the raw egg it contains.

~~~
kkarakk
Eating raw eggs is a common thing in india, for the protein(although this is
incorrect as cooking eggs leads to more protein absorption). However if i were
homeless, why wouldn't i just crack open an egg and eat it? There is almost
zero risk of salmonella

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drbytes
Have hens.

We never put the eggs in the fridge. We leave them in the mudroom
unrefridgerated until we need them, at which point the eggs het a rinse there
before they go to the kitchen for immediate processing.

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alkonaut
I heard it's not recommended to eat raw eggs in the US. Or perhaps part of the
US. Is that a thing? E.g. do people avoid making mayonnaise?

~~~
PaulBGD_
I grew up being told that, due to "bad eggs" that could get you sick.

~~~
jonathanp88
In the UK there was a massive scare about Salmonella in eggs in the 80's,
which resulted in many people believing it was unsafe to eat raw eggs.

In reality the risk was tiny, and is now non-existent:
[https://www.bbc.com/news/health-41568998](https://www.bbc.com/news/health-41568998)

The situation in the US may be different, though.

------
systematical
Okay understood. But does refrigerating them make them last longer? I'm
nomading through South America and of course the eggs were not refrigerated.
Didn't worry me much, but I still put them in the refrigerator with the
assumption that a cold dark environment will make the last longer. no?

~~~
jartelt
In the article it says "Another perk of consistent refrigeration is shelf
life: It jumps from about 21 days to almost 50 days."

~~~
systematical
Thanks. I skimmed right past it I guess.

------
agotterer
As an American I was always told to be cautious of eating undercooked or raw
eggs because of the risk of salmonella. Is this still a real concern of the
eggs are pasteurized and refrigerated?

~~~
sitharus
Eggs aren't pasteurised, they're sanitised by washing in the US. As the
article says this removes the protective coating that keeps bacteria out, so
refrigeration is required to reduce bacteria infiltration.

The salmonella would be present on the outside of the egg, so if you're
paranoid simply wash the egg immediately before use if you're going to consume
it raw.

You're more likely to catch something from a salad these days anyway.

~~~
Fomite
You can buy pasteurized eggs, either in-shell or as liquid egg products, in
the U.S.

~~~
gizmo686
I haven't been able to find in-shell pasteurized eggs for years.

You can pasturize them yourself, but the margins are pretty tight, and there
is no way to verify you were successful.

------
BrandoElFollito
Interestingly in France it depends on the shop. Some refrigerate, some not.

Then everyone I know of them promptly in the fridge at home.

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kwhitefoot
> We ... Scandinavians, tend to be squeamish about our chicken eggs, so we
> bathe them and then have to refrigerate them.

Not here in Norway we don't.

~~~
nemetroid
No, that sounds inaccurate. Some stores do refrigerate them in Sweden, but
they are certainly not washed.

In addition, if any of your hens are found to have salmonella, the entire hen
population is killed off:
[http://www.svenskaagg.se/?p=20022](http://www.svenskaagg.se/?p=20022)

~~~
mariefred
I have never seen eggs being refrigerated

I don't know if eggs are washed or not in Sweden, but I have never seen an egg
with poop on it

------
jeffrallen
Best quote: "a dirty egg with poop on it is no big deal. You brush it off when
you get home"

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Doubl
Europe vaccinates chickens, USA doesn't. USA chlorinates chicken meat, Europe
doesn't.

American chlorinated chicken is widely known about in Europe thanks to brexit

~~~
antientropic
It was actually already widely known thanks to the TTIP negotiations (see e.g.
[https://www.politico.eu/article/eu-ttip-
fears/](https://www.politico.eu/article/eu-ttip-fears/)).

------
vbuwivbiu
vaccination vs refridgeration

which uses less energy ?

------
drdrey
[2014]

~~~
dang
Thanks!

------
cm2012
EU average rate of Salmonella is 23 per 100k people, USA is 16 per 100k. So it
appears the USA way works better.

~~~
arcticbull
Sorry, do you have some source data for that? Is the difference entirely
attributable to the way eggs are stored and processed, or are the Europeans
getting salmonella from other sources? It is my understanding that the US and
EU have fairly different agricultural regulatory frameworks.

~~~
The_suffocated
The _confirmed_ incidence rates in years 2015 and 2016 are 14.85 and 14.51
(cases per 100000 population) in the USA, and 21.0 and 20.4 in the EU.
Sources:

* National Enteric Disease Surveillance: Salmonella Annual Report, 2016

[https://www.cdc.gov/nationalsurveillance/pdfs/2016-Salmonell...](https://www.cdc.gov/nationalsurveillance/pdfs/2016-Salmonella-
report-508.pdf)

* Annual Epidemiological Report for 2016: Salmonellosis

[https://ecdc.europa.eu/sites/portal/files/documents/AER_for_...](https://ecdc.europa.eu/sites/portal/files/documents/AER_for_2016-salmonellosis.pdf)

However, the incidence rates vary widely among European countries. Portugal
had very low (< 4) incidence rates over the period 2012-2016, while the
figures in Czech Republic over the same period were ridiculously high (around
100).

In the UK, where eggs sold on shelves apparently are required by law _not_ to
be washed, the incidence rates in 2015 and 2016 are 14.6 and 15.1, which are
on par with the US figures.

------
octocode
"In America, unrefrigerated eggs can KILL you and you WON'T BELIEVE the reason
why."

fixed

------
raldi
Mods, please change this garbage clickbait headline to, "Eggs need to be
refrigerated in the US because they come pre-washed."

~~~
julianlam
It's not clickbait, it's slightly editorialized, but nothing in it is false.
The US refrigerates their eggs, and most of the world does not.

~~~
raldi
If this isn't clickbait, what would you consider an example of clickbait?

~~~
nagVenkat
Top 207 reasons why US chills its eggs?

~~~
srathi
Number 4 will blow your mind!

