Egg and Safety: An Easy Guide
Food safety is as important with eggs as it is with chicken, meat, seafood and dairy products. There can be health risks if eggs are not handled, stored and prepared safely.Some eggs may be contaminated with bacteria, which can cause serious food poisoning (diarrhoea and vomiting). Be careful with raw eggs and avoid food containing raw eggs, including homemade mayonnaise, raw cake mix and biscuit dough, and some health shakes which use raw egg.
Avoid cracked and dirty eggs
Bacteria from dirt or chicken droppings on the outside of the shell can enter the egg through cracks that are sometimes too fine to see. Once inside the egg, bacteria can grow, increasing the risk of illness.
When purchasing eggs, you can take a number of steps to keep food safe:
• Open the carton and check the eggs look clean and are not cracked before purchasing.
• Consider that larger eggs have thinner shells and are more likely to crack and let in bacteria.
• Don't wash eggs as the shell becomes more porous when wet, making it easier for bacteria to get in.
The best way to store eggs is to keep them in their own carton in the fridge (max 6°C):
• Egg shells are porous and can become tainted by strong-smelling foods in your fridge. Keeping them in the carton makes this less likely to happen.
• Usually the 'best before' date is on the carton - if you take the eggs out of the carton, you won't know when the date has passed.
Take the same precautions with eggs as you would with chicken, meat, seafood or dairy products:
• Thoroughly clean your hands, food areas, work surfaces, dishes, cleaning cloths and utensils after working with eggs and especially after egg spills.
• Serve hot dishes containing eggs straight away or cool them quickly in the fridge and keep them refrigerated until they are eaten.
Cook eggs and foods containing eggs until they are hot all the way through:
• Cooking eggs thoroughly kills bacteria, but bacteria can survive if food is not cooked until it's hot all the way through.
• The more thoroughly cooked the egg, the less likely bacteria can survive.
• Foods containing eggs that are thoroughly cooked are generally safe. These include cakes, firm quiches and biscuits.
