You’ve just found a local backyard farmer who sells fresh eggs – just like the good old days when housewives used to make a little “egg money” for their personal needs. But are these eggs really safe?
There seems to be a controversy as to whether to refrigerate eggs or keep them out at room temperature. Also, you’re probably hoping the farmer washed the eggs before selling them to you, but you see a tiny blemish in the shells or perhaps a little piece of straw sticking to an egg’s surface. Yuck!.
When our hens started laying eggs, averaging between nine and a dozen a day, I automatically stored them in the refrigerator. I soon heard from others that it wasn’t necessary, that eggs can remain at room temperature for several weeks.
“After all, they come from heat,” my Pilates instructor told me when she saw the first carton full of eggs I brought her. “We used to keep the eggs from our chickens at room temperature.” She had dozens of chickens on her place in Flagstaff, AZ.
My Columbian friend told me that her family in Bogata never refrigerated eggs. In fact, she said, “when I saw my first American refrigerator, I asked my mother why was there a place to put eggs.”
In 1977, Mother Earth News did a year-long experiment where they tested 360 eggs, unfertile, washed agri-biz eggs and fertile, unwashed, homestead eggs in several different storage situations. The control eggs were kept at room-temperature while the others were stored in refrigerated conditions.
Details of this complex experiment can be read on http://www.motherearthnews.com/Sustainable-Farming/1977-11-01/Fresh-Eggs.aspx .
The definitive results from that study touted the refrigerated eggs.
“The very best way we’ve found to stash eggs away for long-term storage is in a sealed container at a temperature of 35° to 40°F. Their whites may become somewhat runny looking over a period of time, but even after seven months-the cackleberries stored in this manner smell good, taste good, have a good texture, and-in short-seem “almost fresh”.
All well and good, but even the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, in their publication Facts About Eggs, requires that eggs will NOT have been held in refrigerated storage for more than 30 days in order to be identified as “fresh” on the carton.
“Raw shell eggs will keep in the refrigerator without significant quality loss for up to three weeks after they are brought home. Eggs held in the refrigerator too long may develop a bad flavor.”
The Dept. of Agriculture also states in Facts About Eggs that “egg quality can decline more during one day at room temperature than during one week in the refrigerator. …temperatures (40 degrees F or below) not only help maintain quality by slowing the loss of moisture and carbon dioxide from the eggs, but also inhibit the growth of most bacteria that cause food-borne illness.”
Then there’s the controversy between washing and not washing newly-laid eggs.
Years ago, I offered a batch of freshly-laid eggs to be cooked as part of a potluck breakfast for some friends. To my chagrin, they were horrified! Not only had I not washed the eggs, but they were (gasp) still warm from the hens.
These were urban folk and, like most people these days, vastly removed from where their food comes from.
Steven Lewis, an educator at the Douglas County UNR Extension, told me in an interview that it depends on customer preference. Those who buy organic products soon learn to expect imperfections, such as dirt on the carrots or a bug in the lettuce.
An agribusiness farmer washes the eggs and steadfastly follows health and safety regulations. “They want to keep their animals healthy because it’s their bottom line. With store-bought food, though, you don’t know where the food comes from and people are separated from that,” he said. “Because of this, big producers observe more regulations and health precautions. Customer preferences are more important to them.”
“When you buy locally, you know where you can go if there’s a problem with the food.”
But a local farmer also uses the food he produces. “They’re not going to sue their sibling who gathered the eggs. They’re also used to eggs with a bit of manure or dirt on the shell. They wash it just before they cook it, just as they would wash their hands before handling food.”
It’s all about common sense, Lewis said. “There’s no research that suggests that not washing the eggs is unsafe. Use common sense when preparing food by washing your hands and that egg before you crack it into the pan.”
Facts About Eggs says that “the cuticle or “bloom” is a protective coating that covers the shell as the egg is laid and blocks the pores.” This prevents dirt, manure, and air-borne bacteria from passing through the pores into the egg.
Washing this cuticle off the egg removes this protection. Industrial egg producers usually wash off this cuticle, but they replace it with a layer of edible mineral oil.
Mother Earth’s egg storage experiment found similar results:
“Unwashed, fertile homestead eggs seem to store much better than washed, non fertile agribiz eggs. Why? Probably for the simple reason that they’re unwashed … and not because they’re fertile. Hen fruit, as it comes from the chicken, is coated with a light layer of a natural sealing agent called “bloom”. And, while a good wash may make a batch of eggs look more attractive, it also removes this natural protective coating … leaving the eggs more subject to aging and attack by the air and bacteria in the air.”
So, the definitive word on these two questions: it’s up to the consumer.
If you don’t mind a little speck or two on your farm-fresh backyard eggs, don’t bother washing them until just before you cook them. If you want to keep them on your kitchen counter in a stylish container, be aware that there’s always a chance for salmonella and other diseases. And your eggs will become rather smelly decor a lot sooner than you’ll want them to.