5 ways to tell if an egg is fresh or rotten
How many times have you cracked an egg into a bowl of other ingredients, only to question whether the egg has gone bad or not? Unfortunately, eggs are not the easiest ingredient to determine the freshness of as the protective opaque shell hides the condition of the white and yolk.
But there are a few easy ways to tell if an egg is fresh and there are plenty of things you can do to prevent your eggs from going bad in the first place.
In this article, let’s go over some tips that will help you know if an egg is still good to eat or if it’s expired.
In France, there are nearly 10 million tonnes of food that end up in the trash every year.
People often prefer to throw away food when the expiration date has passed.
Although in France, the number of eggs that end up being wasted remains unknown, the British media The Guardian, which cites the work of the anti-waste community Too good to go, reports that in the United Kingdom, there are 720 millions of eggs that end up in the trash every year.
The main reason for this waste is the fact that 77% of Brits struggle to know if an egg is fresh after it has passed its use-by date.
Do you want to prepare a brunch but you don’t know how long your eggs have been in the fridge? Do not panic. There are ways to know if they are consumable or not:
1.Check expiration dates
The eggs you buy at the supermarket all have a recommended use-by date which is indicated on their packaging.
In addition, French regulations require the distributor to no longer sell eggs 7 days before the minimum durability date (Ddm) written on the packaging, as explained on the Femme Actuelle website.
But if you stock up on eggs from the henhouse, the recommended use-by date is not indicated. Therefore, you should know that the use-by date (Dlc) is a maximum of 28 days after the day of laying.
However, eggs can be stored in the refrigerator for one month past the recommended use-by date, which is 58 days after the day they were laid, if the shells are not cracked or broken. Storing food in optimal conditions helps maintain its freshness, avoid mold and actively fight against food waste.
Compliance with the cold chain and deadlines is necessary to avoid pathogenic organisms that pose a health risk. Thus, putting eggs in the refrigerator helps preserve their taste and nutritional qualities and prevents the growth of bacteria.
However, you should definitely not wash eggs that are not going to be eaten immediately, as this risks causing them to lose the protective film that the hen leaves on them. But if the dates are not on the packaging, it is necessary to find other ways to find out if they are expired.
