Comment by zaarn
7 years ago
The washing does to something; eggs have a protective layer on the outside. Washing them removes it. With this layer, an egg cannot be invaded by bacteria after it's been laid.
Vaccinating the chickens and keeping the eggs unwashed is basically as much natural protection as you can get from nature, washing them means you have to protect the egg yourself a lot more, otherwise salmonella and other bacteria can infect it.
I'm sorry, but that is just not factually correct.
> With this layer, an egg cannot be invaded by bacteria after it's been laid.
They spray mineral oil, which works just as well. This layer the chicken leaves is just some oil, not magic. You do NOT need to refrigerate washed eggs in the US. You just don't.
Try it if you don't believe me. Take some eggs and leave them out for 2 months - they'll be just fine.
> washing them means you have to protect the egg yourself a lot more, otherwise salmonella and other bacteria can infect it.
See this is not factual either. Salmonella infects the eggs before they are laid, not after. That's why vaccinating the chickens works.
And as I said above, there is no additional protection needed with washed eggs.
Refrigerating eggs in the US is SOLELY to keep salmonella from multiplying inside the eggs. Despite what this article says it is NOT about washing the eggs which is simply done because they have unsightly feces on them, that's all.