Not What I Was Egg-specting

I’m ridiculous when it comes to safe food handling. It’s one of my ISSUES. So I surprised myself one recent morning when I came down to the kitchen for coffee, discovered the carton of eggs purchased the previous evening sitting on the counter, thought “Oh well,” and put them in the fridge.

I know not everybody refrigerates their eggs. NBD. It just shortens the shelf life, right?

I feigned nonchalance until it was time to make my dear husband an egg sandwich for lunch. “You know what, let me just consult the interwebs to see if these eggs actually are OK to eat...” I was so glad I checked! Someone posed my exact scenario to the Egg Safety Council, and the surprise answer was that “after eggs are refrigerated, it is important they stay that way. Maintaining a consistent, cool temperature is critical to safety. A cold egg left out at room temperature can sweat, facilitating bacteria growth. Refrigerated eggs should not be left out more than two hours before re-refrigeration.”

Huh! Well, OK. But I knew I had read that you do not have to refrigerate eggs, so what gives? Is this just a CYA tactic by the egg industry?

A little more googling and I had my explanation. Freshly laid eggs are coated with a natural substance that acts as a protective barrier to bacteria. Such eggs can be safely left out at room temperature at least a week. In many countries, eggs are sold unwashed and unrefrigerated. That’s the part I knew.

In the US, however, commercially sold eggs promptly have this natural coating scrubbed off; the now exposed eggshell is porous and invites bacteria to come inside. With scrubbed commercial eggs, constant refrigeration is the mechanism for keeping bacteria out of the egg. Multiple articles stressed how problematic it is for cold eggs to warm up enough to sweat, and then to stay that way.

After getting my egg education, I put my deadly tainted eggs into a bag, drove up the road a ways, and chucked them in the woods for the raccoons and skunks. I kept driving to my nearest farm stand, bought a dozen farm fresh but COLD eggs, took them home, and put them immediately into the fridge. A three-dollar lesson learned.