Pic Today 2/1/11

WHY WE REFRIGERATE EGGS

IN AMERICA?

It's crazy . . .

the rest of the world sells and stores eggs

at room temperature.

In Mexico and most of South America,

eggs are sold "on the shelf", and never refrigerated.

In fact, they love their eggs so much in Colombia,

they have stores, Huevos de Mercada, that

sell nothing but eggs!

So what's with the U.S.A.?

Why are eggs sold refrigerated, next to the milk?

And why do we keep our eggs in the 'fridge?

Eggs have a natural antibiotic coating on them

when they're laid by the hen.

This serves to protect the egg from disease

and preserve its life.

Unwashed, home laid eggs do NOT need to be refrigerated,

and last for up to 3-4 weeks at room temperature.

Here's the catch . . .

Commercial egg farms here wash the eggs before packing

and shipping to grocery chains across the country.

At the plant (the really huge industrial chicken-cage plant)

government regulations require that U.S.D.A. graded eggs

be carefully washed and sanitized using special detergents.

And POOF!, the protective coating is gone,

The eggs now need to be refrigerated to prevent spoilage.

And get this . . .

Most of the contaminated, salmonella infected eggs

are found in the "washed and refrigerated" eggs,

not the natural "un-washed" ones.

Crazy, huh?

Solution: Buy local farm fresh eggs at your farmers market.

They taste better. They're safer.

And you'll have more room in your refrigerator.