A University of Georgia
scientist said there is an
easy way to keep fresh eggs safe: keep them cold. So even if
you stocked up on eggs during
the recent sales for Easter, you can keep using them for
another month or more.

How long is safe?

“Look on the carton for a ‘sell by’ or ‘use by’ date,”
said Keith Bramwell, an Extension
Service poultry scientist with the UGA College of
Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. “Eggs, as
long as they’re kept cold, are
safe to eat for about three weeks after that date.”

Many shoppers, Bramwell said, don’t even know the date
is there. “It kind of
sneaked up on shoppers,” he said. “The date was added
without much fanfare. But
it’s important to know.”

Hen decides
date

That date, he said, is 30 days after the eggs were
packed. And many processors pack
them the same day the hen lays them.

“At the farm, the eggs are washed, inspected and cooled
within minutes of
laying,” he said. “Processors keep them cold until they’re
shipped to stores in
two or three days.”

Eggs’ purpose, and its
consequence

That’s important because of the basic purpose of eggs,
Bramwell said. Eggs are created
to support a chicken embryo with nutrients, water and
oxygen. “That’s perfect for
bacteria, too,” he said, “if the temperature is warm
enough.”

Tests show that more than 99.9 percent of eggs don’t
contain any bacteria, he said,
when they leave the processor. But improper handling can
contaminate them later.

“If the eggs are kept cold, and that means 40 degrees
or colder, any bacteria that
might be in the egg can’t grow,” Bramwell said. “So
grocery stores and shoppers
need to keep fresh eggs cold, too.”

Treat eggs
carefully

Elizabeth Andress, an Extension Service food safety
scientist with the UGA College of
Family and Consumer Sciences, said you should treat eggs
like any perishable food.

“Get them from a refrigerated case at the grocery store
into the refrigerator at
home as quickly as possible,” she said.

Though many refrigerators have a built-in egg
compartment in the door, that’s not the
safest place to store them. “Every time someone opens the
door,” Andress said,
“the eggs warm up a bit and lose a little bit of
moisture.”

Keep them in the foam or pasteboard carton in the
coldest part of the refrigerator, she
said. The carton provides an added layer of protection.

She also advises against washing eggs before storing
them. Washing removes a thin
protective layer on the shells that keeps moisture in and
helps keep bacteria out.

And cook them
completely

And just to be sure they’re safe, always eat eggs
thoroughly cooked. For fried or
scrambled eggs, including omelets, cook them until the
white and the yolk are firm,
Andress said.

Though it’s hard to check the temperature of some egg
dishes, she said, that’s the best
way to check for doneness. Cook custards, puddings,
casseroles and other soft egg dishes
to 160 degrees to make sure they’re safe.

“We used to think cooking eggs, especially hard-cooking
eggs, kept them safe
longer,” Andress said. “Now we know that cooking eggs
shortens their storage
life to just three or four days.”

Other effect time has on
eggs

However, unless they get contaminated, the most
noticeable effect time has on eggs is a
drop in the protein quality.

The usually high-quality protein deteriorates slightly
over time, Bramwell said.
“And the white, the albumen, gets thicker,” he said, “as
moisture is lost
out of the pores of the shell.”