Would you eat these eggs?

August 16, 2023 1:14 PM

I put a carton of eggs in a cooler for 24h while I defrosted my fridge. The carton got soggy from the ice packs in the cooler. Please don't give me shit for being paranoid about food safety and drinking raw milk, I'm allowed to contain multitudes.
posted by wheatlets to Food & Drink (21 answers total)

I would eat them, assuming they stayed fairly cool. I don't think it matters that they got wet.
posted by exceptinsects at 1:16 PM on August 16, 2023 [4 favorites]

I’m on hilarious amounts of immunosuppressants and would totally eat them so long as they had stayed cold. I’d fully cook them, of course.
posted by mochapickle at 1:20 PM on August 16, 2023 [3 favorites]

The big question is whether the ice packs fully melted. As long as they were still at least partially frozen when you took the eggs out of the cooler, you're almost certainly fine. If they had been completely melted for a while you might be taking a bit more of a risk.
posted by firechicago at 1:28 PM on August 16, 2023 [1 favorite]

+1 if the ice packs didn't fully thaw I wouldn't think twice about this
posted by potrzebie at 1:38 PM on August 16, 2023 [1 favorite]

You're fine. Eggs don't need to be kept cold. When I, an American, was in London, I noticed that eggs are sold on the shelf.
posted by swheatie at 1:53 PM on August 16, 2023 [4 favorites]

I would eat them.

Regarding swheatie's comment above: American eggs do indeed need to be refrigerated because they are processed/washed in a way that European eggs are not.
posted by virve at 1:57 PM on August 16, 2023 [35 favorites]

Submerge them in water. Eggs that have turned bad will float to the top. If they sink and lie on their side, they're as fresh as can be. Anything in between puts their state in between.
posted by dobbs at 1:59 PM on August 16, 2023 [8 favorites]

Yeah, as people are alluding to here, the critical question for food safety is what temperature the food was kept at and for how long. The "danger zone" is between 40 F and 140 F. In this case, you only need to worry about the lower end of that range. If there was still ice in the water at the end of that period, you can consider it to have been just around freezing.

Officially, US eggs do need to be kept cold, because of the way they're processed. More detail from NPR. I tend to take this seriously, as US chicken farms are *disgusting*. If you get eggs from a neighbor who does not wash their eggs, sure, don't refrigerate them, and use them within a week or two.
posted by pullayup at 2:00 PM on August 16, 2023 [3 favorites]

Submerge them in water. Eggs that have turned bad will float to the top

This test only detects *rotten* eggs which have putrefied to the point that they have gas inside (which is why they float). You'll also know these eggs are bad if you crack them, because they smell disgusting. It's not a reliable test for human pathogens like E. coli or Salmonella.
posted by pullayup at 2:02 PM on August 16, 2023 [13 favorites]

I just remembered that I replied to an earlier question of yours about antibiotics! I should note here that E. coli and Salmonella are pathogens that cause dysentery, the reason I took a course of ciprofloxacin in 2014. I probably picked up the infection from, yes, improperly handled poultry or eggs. Both dysentery and cipro were super unpleasant--I had bloody diarrhea for like a full week. If you want to reduce your chances of needing antibiotics, don't mess with food safety.

Honestly, I'd eat the eggs. But if you have any doubts, the possibility of foodborne illness is not worth the cost of a carton of eggs.
posted by pullayup at 2:13 PM on August 16, 2023 [2 favorites]

Eggs in the US DO need to be refrigerated, because of how they are processed. They are processed differently in other countries (hence shelf stable there.) Here is info on the difference and egg safety.

Personally, I'm food paranoid and I would get new eggs but I have terrible health issues and eggs are cheap.
posted by Crystalinne at 2:37 PM on August 16, 2023 [5 favorites]

You're fine. Eggs don't need to be kept cold. When I, an American, was in London, I noticed that eggs are sold on the shelf

Fridge eggs and counter eggs are not equivalent. Please don’t assume that because some eggs are sold unrefrigerated that you can just leave your eggs out on the counter!!

Eggs sold in the US have had the natural protective coating washed off, making the shells somewhat porous. Eggs sold in Europe still have that protective coating and can be kept on the counter. If you leave American eggs on the counter, they very much can make you sick!
posted by duien at 2:40 PM on August 16, 2023 [5 favorites]

In other countries, like England, eggs are not washed. They have a coating that keeps them safe and fresh, refrigerated. In the US, eggs for sale must be washed. If they were still pretty cool, I'd be comfortable eating them.
posted by theora55 at 2:42 PM on August 16, 2023 [1 favorite]

They are totally fine. To clarify a bit: once washed/US eggs get warm, they won't keep as long as unwashed UK eggs, but they are still fine for a few days.
posted by SaltySalticid at 3:01 PM on August 16, 2023 [3 favorites]

I'd eat them.
posted by number9dream at 4:53 PM on August 16, 2023

The float test for eggs is less about gases from putrefaction and more about space outside the membrane because the egg goop has lost water and is now smaller than the shell, meaning there's an air pocket at the end to make up the difference. Floating eggs are not necessarily bad - they're just old and more likely to be bad.

My understanding is that you can (mostly) do the sniff test with eggs - if they are off, you will know. My parents certainly operated that way.

WebMD largely seems to agree with me. If they did warm up, and they're American eggs, they want cooking through to kill salmonella, but that aside you aren't at much risk.
posted by How much is that froggie in the window at 5:29 PM on August 16, 2023 [5 favorites]

The float test for eggs is less about gases from putrefaction and more about space outside the membrane because the egg goop has lost water and is now smaller than the shell

I agree, and should have laid out my logic a bit more explicitly--this specific case is considering eggs which were presumably fresh beforehand, but were (possibly) subjected to 24 hours of damp warm temperatures. If an egg is floating afterwards it's likely that it's legit bad and not dried out. Also, "bad" in this sense definitely just means "rotten" and not "pathogenic." I'm pretty sure they're entirely different microorganisms.

Also, thank you, I will only refer to it as "egg goop" from now on
posted by pullayup at 6:55 PM on August 16, 2023 [1 favorite]

I think those eggs are fine. I would make hard boiled eggs with them soon. However, you sound concerned. I happen to think that the $4 for a new dozen eggs is worth the insurance of piece of mind. But, again, I would eat that.
posted by JohnnyGunn at 10:44 PM on August 16, 2023 [1 favorite]

I had a ridiculous turn of events ten days ago when trying to get a new refrigerator delivered and ended up with no refrigerator at all for over 24 hours. I had THREE dozen eggs (don't ask) that sat in an Igloo cooler with ice. The eggs were still cold but the boxes were totally...flaccid.

I ended up getting a long thin plexiglass box that fit all the eggs at once (they now live in there) and I have a ton more space on the shelf. Most of the eggs have been consumed and there haven't been any complaints, gastric or otherwise.
posted by dancinglamb at 3:54 AM on August 17, 2023

Mod note: Comment removed. Just focus on helping the OP with this question and avoid making comments about previous and unrelated questions.
posted by Brandon Blatcher (staff) at 5:27 AM on August 17, 2023 [1 favorite]

In my country eggs are sold on the shelf.
posted by thereader at 11:13 PM on August 17, 2023