Expiration Dates Are Meaningless

[jehb2]

In Europe the eggs are in the middle of the grocery aisle. They are not refrigerated. I know they have a different way of processing their eggs.

 

[PigsDad]

In Europe the eggs are in the middle of the grocery aisle. They are not refrigerated. I know they have a different way of processing their eggs.

Yes, in many countries they do not wash the eggs before distributing them for sale. The washing process removes a protective layer and after they are washed, they need to be refrigerated. To protect against salmonella, those countries require all commercial chickens to be vaccinated.

In contrast, the US does not require the vaccinations so processors need to wash the eggs to protect us, but of course that means the eggs then need to be refrigerated.

Kurt

 

[donnaval]

I worked for a food broker when they started ramping up the "expiration" and "best buy" dates. He was ecstatic - said we'll make a fortune now because stupid people will believe the food they ate without question a few months ago when there were no dates, would now be tossing out perfectly good food because some machine would stamp a date on the package. I can't say I would call people stupid for deciding that those dates mean something to them, but I also know that most food is fine well beyond the stamped-on dates.