THE GREAT ATLANTIC EGG DEBATE

Why You Can’t Buy British Eggs in America, and Vice Versa

Salmonella is a type of bacteria that can make you dangerously sick. It’s most commonly found in uncooked chicken, meat, and eggs, and while you can avoid it if you prepare and cook your food properly, accidents happen. For example, you might eat some uncooked cake batter that has raw egg in it. For this reason, it’s crucial that steps be taken to keep salmonella away from your eggs as much as possible. That’s why, in the United States, grocers refrigerate their eggs. It’s also why, in the United Kingdom, grocers don’t refrigerate their eggs. Yes, that’s right: The US and the UK can’t agree on the safest way to store chicken eggs.

When a chicken lays an egg, the egg is exposed to whatever else is under the chicken. This often includes chicken droppings, and those droppings can contain salmonella. Eggshells are somewhat porous, so any salmonella-laden chicken poop can contaminate the egg. However, nature provides a solution: Freshly laid eggs also come with a thin external membrane called a cuticle which envelops the shell, providing an additional barrier between the inside of the egg and the outside world.

The cuticle isn’t foolproof, of course, and many feel that if the dirt on the outside of the egg can make you sick, it shouldn’t be entering the chain of commerce. As a result, United States law requires that commercial egg farms wash their eggs before putting them up for sale. However, if cold water is used (and it usually is), the yolk and whites inside the shell contract, leaving more room for bacteria to enter. And if the egg isn’t fully dried after it is washed, moisture can take hold, giving bacteria yet another chance to multiply. This isn’t the only way salmonella can get inside the egg: It can also be transmitted directly from the chicken. That is, if a live chicken is carrying salmonella, any eggs laid by that chicken also run the risk of carrying the bacteria. If those eggs are then stored at room temperature, the salmonella bacteria will thrive. For these reasons, the US mandates that its eggs always be refrigerated.

But there’s an alternative: the UK way. Here—and, for that matter, most of the world—the policy is to leave the egg unwashed before sale, keeping the cuticle intact. However, refrigeration of the unwashed eggs is generally a bad idea; to minimize bacterial growth, you don’t want to move eggs from warm to cold and back again. So, the UK requires that eggs be sold unrefrigerated. And to account for those egg-laying chickens already stricken with salmonella, the UK uses the money they save in refrigeration costs to vaccinate their chickens.

Wash, don’t wash; refrigerate, don’t refrigerate: There is no finite answer. As chef and food writer J. Kenji López-Alt noted, “In the US, eggs are cleaner to begin with but more prone to recontamination. Elsewhere, the interiors are safer from contamination but the shells themselves could have baddies in them. It’s a trade-off either way.” Regardless, the best way for consumers to stay safe is the same wherever you are: Wash your eggs before use, and always fully cook them before consumption.

BONUS FACT

Do you wash raw chicken before cooking it? You probably shouldn’t—and this is something both the UK and the US agree on. The US Food and Drug Administration’s website notes that rinsing the birds “makes it more likely for bacteria to spread to areas around the sink and countertops.” The UK’s National Health Service has a similar warning on its website, saying “splashing water from washing chicken under a tap can spread the bacteria onto hands, work surfaces, clothing, and cooking equipment.”