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Big Mac
Joined: 17 Sep 2005
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 Posted: Sat Sep 24, 2005 8:39 pm Post subject: Shouldn't eggs be refrigerated? |
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Shouldn't eggs be refrigerated? I keep asking myself this question every time I see crates of eggs sitting in the sunshine or on a restaurant floor.
Has anyone ever been sick because of this practice? Have you ever cracked open an egg only to find a half-grown chick inside rather than a yolk? |
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VanIslander
Joined: 18 Aug 2003
Location: Geoje, Hadong, Tongyeong,... now in a small coastal island town outside Gyeongsangnamdo!
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| Posted: Sat Sep 24, 2005 8:48 pm Post subject: |
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I was shocked and scared my first year here.
But after three years of eating eggs that have been sitting unrefrigerated, I can say there's no inherent concern.
Though there is a risk of developing... what? some kind of illness. But the probability must be low, given how many eggs are consumed without illness here.
I now think people back home are a bit paranoid about refrigerating eggs, certainly the fear is out of porportion to the risk of illness. |
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tzechuk
Joined: 20 Dec 2004
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| Posted: Sat Sep 24, 2005 8:53 pm Post subject: |
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| I *think* if eggs are used up quick enough, there is no need to refridgerate them. |
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VanIslander
Joined: 18 Aug 2003
Location: Geoje, Hadong, Tongyeong,... now in a small coastal island town outside Gyeongsangnamdo!
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| Posted: Sat Sep 24, 2005 9:00 pm Post subject: |
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| tzechuk wrote: |
| I *think* if eggs are used up quick enough, there is no need to refridgerate them. |
But you are Asian, aren't you?
The phobia is one Americans and Canadians have because of the fear of salmonella, which affects only one egg in 20,000, and the symptoms resemble what could be mis-diagnosed as the flu: diarrhea, abdominal pain, nausea and fever.
And in heat, bacteria multiply, increasing the danger.
Health standards and the role of government in regulating business practices based on scientific research is much more prevalent in North America than it is in Asia, Africa and parts of Europe, though I hear even in Britain eggs can be bought off of a shelf.
I don't worry about it just as I don't worry about skin cancer. Neither will kill you in most cases but both are hyped as big health concerns. There are more important things to be concerned about. |
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joe_doufu
Joined: 09 May 2005
Location: Elsewhere
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| Posted: Sat Sep 24, 2005 9:04 pm Post subject: |
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Eggs come out of the chicken warm...
Or is it that chickens come out of the egg warm? |
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tzechuk
Joined: 20 Dec 2004
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| Posted: Sat Sep 24, 2005 9:06 pm Post subject: |
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| VanIslander wrote: |
| tzechuk wrote: |
| I *think* if eggs are used up quick enough, there is no need to refridgerate them. |
But you are Asian, aren't you?
The phobia is one Americans and Canadians have because of the fear of salmonella, which affects only one egg in 20,000, and the symptoms resemble what could be mis-diagnosed as the flu: diarrhea, abdominal pain, nausea and fever.
And in heat, bacteria multiply, increasing the danger.
Health standards and the role of government in regulating business practices based on scientific research is much more prevalent in North America than it is in Asia, Africa and parts of Europe, though I hear even in Britain eggs can be bought off of a shelf.
I don't worry about it just as I don't worry about skin cancer. Neither will kill you in most cases but both are hyped as big health concerns. There are more important things to be concerned about. |
I don't know about now, VI, but when I was still living at home, I don't remember eggs being refridgerated in supermarkets ... I will ask my mum tonight when I call her. |
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schwa
Joined: 18 Jan 2003
Location: Yap
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| Posted: Sat Sep 24, 2005 9:13 pm Post subject: |
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Lots of countries dont refrigerate eggs, including in Europe.
Theres a remote chance an egg contains salmonella (one in 10 to 20 thousand) & it will multiply more rapidly in an unrefrigerated egg.
They undoubtedly lose freshness quicker.
EMart makes a point of promoting its refrigerated eggs here. |
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Ekuboko
Joined: 22 Dec 2004
Location: ex-Gyeonggi
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| Posted: Sun Sep 25, 2005 12:15 am Post subject: |
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| NZ supermarkets don't refrigerate eggs. |
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Big Mac
Joined: 17 Sep 2005
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| Posted: Sun Sep 25, 2005 1:13 am Post subject: |
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Hmmm. Interesting. I always thought it was just common sense that eggs were supposed to be refrigerated. But now it appears that I'm just a victim of my country's big brother mentality towards public health.
What the hell are we wasting all our energy keeping all these eggs cold for then? I say free the eggs of Canada and the United States. Let them breathe! We should join the civilized world!!
Seriously though, the lower standards of food sanitation here are a real eye opener. I think it is more of a commentary on how paranoid we have become in North America towards these issues. For example, if a food item has even come into contact with nuts, some schools in Canada will ban them like they would a gun.
I've seen them using the same tongs in a galbi restaurant on the raw meat as with the cooked meat. The Canadian in me cringes, but the more worldly part of me says "let it be." I still eat galbi. And eggs. I'm alive. |
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schwa
Joined: 18 Jan 2003
Location: Yap
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| Posted: Sun Sep 25, 2005 1:28 am Post subject: |
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| Whats with the hamburgers that sit out all day on a cornerstore counter? |
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Big Mac
Joined: 17 Sep 2005
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| Posted: Sun Sep 25, 2005 1:42 am Post subject: |
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| schwa wrote: |
| Whats with the hamburgers that sit out all day on a cornerstore counter? |
You mean the ones in a bag? I tried one of them one day. Regretted it. It didn't even taste like it had meat on it. It was really bad. I'm still alive though. It's definitely not an invention that would sell in North America though. I'm surprised it does here. |
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VanIslander
Joined: 18 Aug 2003
Location: Geoje, Hadong, Tongyeong,... now in a small coastal island town outside Gyeongsangnamdo!
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| Posted: Sun Sep 25, 2005 1:47 am Post subject: |
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| schwa wrote: |
| Whats with the hamburgers that sit out all day on a cornerstore counter? |
Beef leftover dishes are sometimes accidentally left on the counter all night back home, and put in the fridge the next morning. It's been fine to eat it thereafter.
Yes, the possibility of getting sick from harmful bacteria is increased with unfrigerated eggs and cooked meat. But the risks are far greater with raw meat, as much as I recall.
Dried meats can be eaten months later at room temperature as long as there's no moisture to host harmful bacteria and/or wrapping keeps harmful bacteria away.
But the vast majority of bacteria is not harmful, and of those that are, getting sick for a day or two is the usual consequence.
| Big Mac wrote: |
| ... how paranoid we have become in North America towards these issues. For example, if a food item has even come into contact with nuts, some schools in Canada will ban them like they would a gun. |
Good example.
I will still take the safest precautions in my own cooking and storage. But, if millions and millions can eat unrefrigerated eggs and cooked meats without getting sick much, then I can do, when I eat out. |
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desultude
Joined: 15 Jan 2003
Location: Dangling my toes in the Persian Gulf
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| Posted: Sun Sep 25, 2005 3:20 am Post subject: |
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| VanIslander wrote: |
| schwa wrote: |
| Whats with the hamburgers that sit out all day on a cornerstore counter? |
Beef leftover dishes are sometimes accidentally left on the counter all night back home, and put in the fridge the next morning. It's been fine to eat it thereafter.
Yes, the possibility of getting sick from harmful bacteria is increased with unfrigerated eggs and cooked meat. But the risks are far greater with raw meat, as much as I recall.
Dried meats can be eaten months later at room temperature as long as there's no moisture to host harmful bacteria and/or wrapping keeps harmful bacteria away.
But the vast majority of bacteria is not harmful, and of those that are, getting sick for a day or two is the usual consequence.
| Big Mac wrote: |
| ... how paranoid we have become in North America towards these issues. For example, if a food item has even come into contact with nuts, some schools in Canada will ban them like they would a gun. |
Good example.
I will still take the safest precautions in my own cooking and storage. But, if millions and millions can eat unrefrigerated eggs and cooked meats without getting sick much, then I can do, when I eat out. |
The nut issue is strange. I hate the way we get hysterical about things on one hand, on the other, apparently if a child is allergic to nuts just the slightest hint of them can kill them. It seems to be something new. Maybe it used to be that if a child keeled over and died from pb+j, maybe it was thought to be a heart attack? 
Anyway, it is a big issue now, and from what I have read it is not just hysteria.
As for refrigerating eggs, I would be more worried about how old they are at the store. Freshness with eggs is important, and sometimes I get some home from the hypermart and they are really not fresh. You can tell if you crack them and the yolk immediately breaks into a really flat blob. That, and if you are really unlucky, they really really stink.  |
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seoulkitchen
Joined: 28 Dec 2004
Location: Hub of Asia, my ass!
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| Posted: Mon Sep 26, 2005 1:33 am Post subject: |
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Speaking of eggs,
how long can you keep them in the fridge before they spoil?
If they are getting a bit old, will they be okay to hard boil?
and an in-the-fridge-or-in-the-cabinet question of cooking oil?
wrap it in plastic or wrap it in foil?
too much work, too much toil! |
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peony
Joined: 30 Mar 2005
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| Posted: Mon Sep 26, 2005 9:03 am Post subject: |
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dont put your cooking oil in the fridge, doesnt it congeal when you do that?
i think it depends what kind of food you are wrapping. some are better in plastic, some are better in foil |
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