• @[email protected]
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    15710 months ago

    As an American, I cannot legally touch any egg that hasn’t been ultra-pasteurized followed by continuous cold chain refrigeration and served in either a Styrofoam or pulped paper cardboard egg carton.

    • @[email protected]
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      4810 months ago

      I think you have been misinformed. As an American, I can harvest eggs just like the pictured ones from my own backyard on a regular basis.

      They don’t even cost any money, they come out of chicken asses for free.

      • @[email protected]OP
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        3310 months ago

        What a noob. Ours come from shops. That way, our entire fuckin garden doesn’t smell like a crashed ammonia tanker

        • @[email protected]
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          1610 months ago

          Sorry your yard is so small. Mine is large enough that the chicken coop is far away from the house and is usually not a bother. Summertime when the wind is just wrong can be an annoying stench, but it’s almost nothing compared to the smell of dumpsters in a big city during summer heat.

        • @[email protected]
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          1310 months ago

          As a side note, if your chicken coop smells like a crashed ammonia tanker you need to add more carbon in the coop. Dead leaves, cardboard, shredded wood or wood chips are working well.

      • JJROKCZ
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        210 months ago

        Let’s not pretend the acquisition and upkeep of chickens is free… if you eat a lot of eggs it is absolutely worth it, but there is some cost in setting up a coop, getting chickens, keeping chickens fed and safe from predators, disease, etc.

        Plus you have to have property to keep them on and be allowed to have them on your property. For most Americans that isn’t possible due to lack of home ownership or HOA restrictions on what animals you can have on “your” property. (HOAs are bullshit)

  • themeatbridge
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    7310 months ago

    In the US, there’s a concern for salmonella or other bacteria and viruses. Factory egg farming is a horror show in regards to overcrowding and hygiene. Sick birds are crammed in with healthy laying birds, and washing the eggs is one of the safest ways to prevent contamination.

    It does increase the permeability of the shell, decreasing shelf life and requiring refrigeration.

    If your eggs looked like this in the USA, there’s a small but non-zero chance that you’ll shit yourself to death. Probably not, but it’s scary enough.

    We could improve factory farming regulations so it’s not a like a Cronenberg movie, but then eggs would be more expensive. And even if we did, and stopped washing our eggs, Americans would still want them to look clean and would still keep them in the fridge because we’ve been conditioned to expect to die on the toilet covered in wet feces if we see bird poop on the eggs.

    • @[email protected]
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      3810 months ago

      Fwiw, the eggs wouldn’t have to be more expensive, the eggs cost what the market will pay.

      The only change is that the people profiting from your poor food conditions will profit slightly less.

      This is a common lie they tell everyone.

    • Justin
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      2010 months ago

      Keeping unwashed eggs in the fridge at home helps them last longer, as long as you don’t leave them out to sweat.

      But yeah here in Sweden, we rarely ever get salmonella recalls since the chickens aren’t strapped to a box here.

    • Semi-Hemi-Demigod
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      1310 months ago

      If your eggs looked like this in the USA, there’s a small but non-zero chance that you’ll shit yourself to death. Probably not, but it’s scary enough.

      Unless you got it from your own chicken coop

      • themeatbridge
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        10 months ago

        Right, but if you keep chickens for eggs, you already know all of this.

    • @[email protected]
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      1210 months ago

      Chickens are vaccinated against salmonella (and a bunch of other things) when they are chicks in Europe. It means you don’t need to worry about shitting yourself to death, the chickens are slightly happier by not being sick, and your eggs stay fresher for longer.

      It would probably add $0.005 per egg, so US producers will claim it’s communism if a regulation is brought in to vaccinate chicken, but it would be worth doing.

      • themeatbridge
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        710 months ago

        You mean you put 5G tracking devices in your chickens?

        Really, though, getting poultry farmers to spend a penny per dozen eggs is like trying to squeeze water from a rock.

        • lad
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          610 months ago

          Yeah, it helps one find them if they run away

          They’ve made a documentary about it back in the day: chicken run (2000) movie screenshot

      • @[email protected]
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        410 months ago

        Fuckin finally. The tryna high road the Europe and shit like they don’t have poor chicken treatment situations too. Its all down to vaccination requirements. They the treatment of chickens cause both places have issues lol

      • @[email protected]
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        210 months ago

        Refrigerating the eggs end to end costs money too, possibly more. I don’t think it’s about ongoing cost but rather upfront cost to switching.

    • BruceTwarzen
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      1210 months ago

      At what point do people not just think that maybe going vegan isn’t that bad of an alternative

      • themeatbridge
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        1210 months ago

        But eggs are yummy. Baked goods, thickened sauces, omelettes and deviled eggs and egg salad, you can’t really replace them with vegan alternatives. Aquafaba is pretty close for some of it, but people like their eggs and don’t care about how much their food suffers before we eat it.

      • @[email protected]
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        210 months ago

        It is way too challenging in my mind at least. I do one meat meal a week and veg the rest. All the fun stuff has milk and eggs in it.

        But hey you do it if it makes you happy.

  • @[email protected]
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    5110 months ago

    The biggest reason eggs are refrigerated in the US is because they’re not vaccinated for salmonella, so refrigeration is needed to inhibit growth. The US was able to do that since they have the infrastructure for end to end refrigeration. It’s not necessarily wrong, it’s just another way to do it. Since salmonella can also be on the outside of the egg they need to be washed, and since they’re refrigerated the loss of the protective layer doesn’t matter. I guess in Europe with the vaccination it also lowers the chance of salmonella on the outside of the egg allowing the outside to remain unwashed and protective of the inside making refrigeration unnecessary. There’s just not enough of a reason to change things in the us now since the refrigeration method is already in place and switching would cost more up front. The main downside is that you can’t eat raw eggs in the US which means some dishes can’t be made, but the vast majority of the US isn’t interested in raw egg dishes anyways.

    • @[email protected]
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      3010 months ago

      People in the US eat raw eggs all the time. Salmonella outbreaks from eggs are almost unheard of.

      Also, washed or unwashed, eggs will keep longer in the fridge. And it makes for a less cluttered pantry. There’s really zero reason for Europeans to be smug about this.

    • @[email protected]
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      610 months ago

      There’s just not enough of a reason to change things in the us now since the refrigeration method is already in place and switching would cost more up front.

      Cutting on electricity and washing costs?

    • @[email protected]
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      210 months ago

      The main downside is that you can’t eat raw eggs in the US

      You can buy pasteurized eggs, though they can be hard to find. You can also DIY them with a sous vide cooker.

        • @Gimpydude
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          210 months ago

          You can sous vide eggs to pasteurize them and they are still raw. That’s what they do when they make cookie dough to eat raw.

        • @[email protected]
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          110 months ago

          Sous vide is just accurately holding a water bath at a given temperature. You put your food in (in a baggie if necessary) at a specific temperature and time to achieve a consistent “doneness”.

          130-140 farenheit for an hour is enough to kill pathogens in eggs, but low enough it doesn’t cook them.

  • @[email protected]
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    4310 months ago

    I know hardy har har such banter, but for real we also have unwashed eggs, and plenty of Americans have chicken’s, I currently have 80 in my backyard and am overflowing with eggs on my countertops.

    Your jokes will hit harder if they come from a place of reality and not only information gained from reddit and social media posts.

    • @[email protected]
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      3610 months ago

      There are Americans who own chickens and Americans who’ve never touched one. It’s a big country. This post applies mostly to city folk.

      • @[email protected]
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        610 months ago

        This post applies mostly to city folk.

        The ones subsidizing the rest of the country. You think Cletus has health insurance while he cosplays as a farmer think his 600 dollar a month land tax is paying for his 4 kids in school? 9 out of 50 states pay federal taxes and those states all happen to have the biggest cities.

        But hey I get it. My parents were cosplay farmers as well. Here I am working like a schmuck for a living.

        • @[email protected]
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          10 months ago

          My man, if people want to own a couple chickens it’s not that serious.

          The rural welfare states are really a separate issue from that.

          I do find it funny that conservative states are so anti-welfare when their existence depends on it though.

          • @[email protected]
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            210 months ago

            I don’t get upset about people having a hobby, I encourage it. Just you know because you have fun doing something doesn’t mean the rest of us have to subsidize your hobby. I enjoy baking that doesn’t mean I get to quit my job and do it full time and depend on the government to pay me for it.

            Knew a lot of families like mine growing up. Want to get a real job? No? Ok go back to failing at potatoes, and spend all your free time hunting while drunk.

      • @[email protected]
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        510 months ago

        I live in a major American city maybe 4 miles from downtown and I have a farm with fresh eggs and produce a block from my house.

    • @[email protected]
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      10 months ago

      I think that’s a fair point. However in this case, as an American I personally know people here who are like this.

      A friend of mine will go to the store and buy more eggs because he refuses to eat the fresh eggs I keep on my counter.

      Edit: He also keeps an ice chest in his trunk to keep them in during the 20 minute drive from the store…

    • @[email protected]
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      410 months ago

      What, a shitpost didn’t take every singe person who exists in America into consideration??!?!?!?? No way, that’s awful, I can’t believe OP would try and hurt you like that, wild they posted a public meme that didn’t apply to you personally

      Also I believe you by your use of “chicken’s”. I grew up rural and many did not know how to pluralize things.

  • @[email protected]
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    4110 months ago

    This probably goes without saying to anyone who has chickens but a message to rest DO NOT WASH your eggs. It’s the stupidest thing you can do. When you wash them you remove protective layer and they can’t last long outside of refrigerator. Even in the fridge chances of getting Salmonella grows very fast.

  • Jo Miran
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    3410 months ago

    Not Americans that are used to eating farm fresh eggs from the local farmers market. I lived in downtown Austin until recently and getting freshly picked produce from local and urban farms every Saturday was one of my favorite parts of my week.

  • @[email protected]
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    3410 months ago

    I grew up raising chickens among other animals. Poop and feathers on eggs was the norm. This ‘50s processed white bread, white sugar, clean eggs, etc. that was the sign of “progress” I guess IMO has done more harm than good in some ways.

    • @[email protected]
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      810 months ago

      Wait, why fridge? I thought they last at room temp if they still have the chicken butt juice. Do they last longer cold?

      • @[email protected]
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        910 months ago

        I still put farm fresh eggs in my fridge because it’s just a lot more convenient to store eggs in the fridge than on my counter where I have more limited space

          • @[email protected]
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            10 months ago

            My fridge is designed to store food and has multiple shelves and drawers. My counters are a flat surface area and I’d rather keep them clear for active uses like cutting, prepping, etc.

            There are also appliances competing for space on the counter like coffee machines

            I guess there’s the pantry but it’s also just that I’m used to keeping them in the fridge and it’s not like it hurts them to go in the fridge.

            Anyway, point is it’s really not that weird to keep them in the fridge

          • @[email protected]
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            110 months ago

            If its anything like my counter then kinda, honestly ive knocked enough shit off the counter that its just easier to keep em in the fridge.

      • @[email protected]
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        610 months ago

        Yeah I suppose I could store them at room temp, but I figure they last longer in the fridge and I’m not really hurting for space.

    • @[email protected]
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      110 months ago

      OP, that’s what it would’ve looked like. Your eggs been industrially washed. What a moron is that OP.

  • @[email protected]
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    2510 months ago

    Am American living in the city with 8 chickens. The only scary thing is seeing eggs in the market go for $10/dozen

    • @[email protected]
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      10 months ago

      Wow, that’s crazy. It’s €4.49/10 here tax included for the fancy free range, low volume farm ones from a not-cheap supermarket.

      • @[email protected]
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        310 months ago

        3.2USD here for a dozen cage-free brown eggs!

        My folks’ chickens’ eggs have orange-r yolks tho.

      • @[email protected]
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        110 months ago

        Miss living near the Amish. They have these cute big families with so many children and agricultural stuff for low prices. I would love to convince them to somehow some way homestead in my city.

        • @[email protected]
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          310 months ago

          Funny, as someone who works intimately with them I find myself distrusting them. They are great at putting on the “old timey, super genuine sweet Christian folk” persona but don’t get it wrong. Their ideology spreads like a cancer around here. They breed like crazy, buy up all the private land, displace other locals with their farms, eschew environmentally friendly agricultural practice to save money, their buggies destroy the roads and cause terrible fatal accidents. It’s not to say they’re all bad but they’re absolutely a highly insular cult and they have no problem turning on outsiders to further their society.

          • @[email protected]
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            210 months ago

            buggies destroy the roads

            How? I’d always heard that heavier vehicles do more damage to roads, so I’d expect buggies to be on par with bicycles or maybe motorcycles.

            cause fatal accidents

            I’m curious about this one, too. Do they tend to drive erratically? I’d think their slower top speeds would make it easier to avoid accidents.

            • @[email protected]
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              110 months ago

              Many Amish churches ban rubber tires and the buggies will at best use hardwood wheels, and otherwise they’ll be steel. Weight is of some minor concern but more principally the hard materials as well as the shoed horses wear away at the road. In high density Amish areas it’s common to see two deep grooves in the road from buggies.

              Buggies are not designed for modern roads. They have very little safety features (in fact they only begrudgingly even put reflectors on them, and maybe occasionally flashers for at removedht), and their bulky, dense bodies and slow movement make them pretty devastating targets to hit. They don’t crumple like a modern car. They explode. Car-on-buggy accidents are very frequently fatal. I know plenty of Amish who have lost family to accidents at relatively slow speeds.

          • @[email protected]
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            110 months ago

            displace other locals with their farms, es

            Meh I am not sure how people stuck on old tech are so much better at farming that they can outcompete modern farms. How bad at your job can you be to have your ass handed to you by the 17th century?

            Kinda getting tired of the whole “my life sucks because I am lazy let me get angry at people who are actually successful”. Tall poppy syndrome is running rampant, especially in rural America. You can thank me for paying for your roads btw.

  • @[email protected]
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    2510 months ago

    But my fridge has a little spot just for the eggs. They look so cozy there. I actually don’t know where I’d keep something as fragile as eggs outside my fridge in the kitchen. Genuine question where do you keep your eggs safe? Do they often break?

      • @[email protected]
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        1110 months ago

        Well no. I’m Canada we keep the anlpha egg of the dozen in the egg safe. It’s not large enough for a full carton of eggs.

        • @[email protected]
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          410 months ago

          C’mon, you’re making Canada sound backwards like that. We have banks and they have safety deposit boxes large enough for several cartons of eggs.

          I also keep eggs hidden around the house in case I get a midnight craving for an omelette and don’t feel like doing a midnight heist on my own eggs. Though I do regret the ones I hid under the couch cushions.

      • lad
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        210 months ago

        It’s not that those are valuable, it’s that those are dangerous. Have you ever tried throwing one after getting it out of an egg safe where it was safely tucked away for the last decade?

    • @[email protected]
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      710 months ago

      In a cupboard in their container? They don’t spontaneously combust, as long as they’re in the cardboard it’s pretty hard to accidentally break them.

        • @[email protected]
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          410 months ago

          Sounds like you might need to go through your things and ask if each brings you joy and get rid of whatever doesn’t.

          Does this egg bring me joy? Throws egg on floor, giggles yes it does. Makes note to replace egg

      • BruceTwarzen
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        1810 months ago

        It’s actually coming out of the cloaca. No idea about the chicken tho

        • Manucode
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          1110 months ago

          You’re both misinformed. Honey doesn’t come either out of a bee’s anus nor out of a bee’s cloaca. It comes out of the mouth. Bees don’t even have a cloaca. Chickens though do have a cloaca and that’s where the eggs come out.

          • @[email protected]
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            210 months ago

            So I’ve thought about the chicken and the egg issue. Wouldn’t it be the egg first since it contained an evolved spices that we currently call the chicken? The one that produced it doesn’t have to be a chicken, only that it produced a mutated offspring whose egg contained the chicken.

            • @[email protected]
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              10 months ago

              It’s more like the egg contained something slightly different from the mother, and that trend continues for thousands and thousands of “iterations” until eventually it’s completely distinct from that “first” one. There shouldn’t be any species that gives birth to something completely different where it’s protochicken straight to chicken.

              • @[email protected]
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                410 months ago

                That’s kinda what I’m getting at, in that at some point you draw the line on what is a “chicken” vs what isn’t a chicken.

    • @[email protected]
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      710 months ago

      That’s ridiculous, chickens don’t have asses. When’s the last time you went to KFC and ordered a bucket of wings, breasts, and asses?

      Sidenote: my phone thnks the word breasts must be changed to breaststroke every time.

      • @[email protected]
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        210 months ago

        The asses are like the sub-dogfood grade meat at taco bell. You don’t explicitly ask for it, but everyone just knows that’s what they are getting.

  • clif
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    10 months ago

    Can confirm. We (in US) have chickens and whenever we gift eggs to people they’re astounded that they don’t need to be refrigerated but also sometimes horrified that they aren’t washed.

    Granted, I keep the eggs that get poopy for myself so they don’t get tossed out by an overly cautious person. I just rinse them immediately before use if they’re very dirty. Occasionally one of the hens will have an “accident” and lay an egg in the dirt outside or on the coop floor. Otherwise they look generally like the pic above.

    I’ve yet to have a rotten egg and at times we’ve gotten behind by over a month… Still good, sitting on the counter for a month.

    Fun info, I’m currently eating through some “water glassed” eggs that I stored in May of 2023. Still good.

    • @[email protected]OP
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      1110 months ago

      I have looked up “water glassed eggs” and while it does look interesting as a scientific experiment, I’m reasonably certain that you’re a psychopath

      • Talaraine
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        Hahah yeah water glassing is kind of a throwback that helps keep them even through temp variations. We did an experiment back when we had a homestead a few years ago, where we cleaned any nasties if there were any and then dipped the eggs in oil and kept them in a cool room.

        We came back every three months to try an egg. We ended the experiment at 2 years after which 25% of them began to float. The rest were still edible but the yolk wouldn’t stay together when cracked.

        • clif
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          310 months ago

          Yeah, at ~8 months these are about 50/50 on whether the yolks hold together. Still taste fine though.

          I decided to give it a try since in the spring/summer they were laying way more than we could keep up with … But mostly because I thought it was interesting and wanted to try it :D

      • clif
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        110 months ago

        You’ll hear no arguments from me : D

        More like curious psychopath, maybe