this post was submitted on 06 Nov 2024
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It's not just vaccination - European eggs aren't pressure washed like American ones to remove the protective coating.
I've honestly never understood why America does that to their eggs.
In Australia our eggs are kept in the refrigerated section in the supermarket (usually near the cheese and butter, because everyone knows eggs are dairy), and we've always put them in the fridge at home, so I guess they wash the protective coating off here too.
Salmonella. It's carried in chicken dung, sometimes eggs get a bit of feces on them, so the US washes them to attempt to reduce exposure.
Problem is that without the protective coating, the eggs are more permeable and susceptible to bacterial infection, hence the refrigeration.
So it's a question of whether it's better to reduce bacteria exposure or susceptibility. I am sure there's research out there with numbers indicating one works better than the other, but it's been such a long-standing thing at this point that I don't think Americans would trust unrefrigerated eggs.
Both work for protecting humans. However, I believe vaccination is better overall. It also improves the quality of life of the chickens. Unfortunately, it's also (very slightly) more expensive, so America went the cheap route. The EU mandated to reduce animal cruelty, by vaccination.
The research shows both methods are equally effective at controlling salmonella, afaik
Another reason I'm glad I'm not american or living there today
I think refrigerating eggs is inconsequential compared to the other thing that happened.
Agreed, though, it adds up.