[egbert]

Hi

OK, my eccentric MIL has got me wound up again. My daughter spent the night throwing up, the OH now has the same thing and apparently so does the FIL. MIL has now announced that clearly they all have salmonella poisoning from my eggs - the FIl says because he ate an egg that had been pecked. The fact that my son and I are fine, so is the MIL, the OH didnt have egg yesterday and none of our eggs were pecked is all incidental. It just makes me mad when they made these accusations and assumptions 

Anyway, so I have been researching salmonella online and have some general questions if any one knows -
One page said salmonella is in all eggs, another said its in 1 in 20000 - so which is right?
Advice says to keep all eggs in the fridge, but I have always had mine on the side, but eat them within the week or 2 - is this risky?
I have been told not to wash eggs as they are pourous, but apparently I should wash them all?

So what do you all do?

[Daveravey]

I don't wash my eggs & i keep them at room temperature.

You can buy specialised egg wash fluid, but what's the point.

Can't you swap your MIL for a couple of new hens   

[dizzy1pig]

I don,t wash ..... the eggs that is as it makes them porous which then allows them to absorb tastes
..if you have fish in fridge the take that in or garlic

I also leave mine in my outbuilding not so warm as indoors or as cold as fridge

[BlueDaisy]

I don't wash the eggs and keep them in the litchen, but eat them usually within a week.

I think you can have them tested for salmonella, if you really want to wind up the MIL

[sheila]

how do you get them tested?

[TheCaptain]

Feed them to the MIL until she gets sick.  Or constipated.

[scotelf]

ooooooh 

[BlueDaisy]

Oh dear am I talking rubbish again?
I thought I remembered when I had the chook poo tested for coccidiosis that when the lab results came back it said I (not me personally!) was clear of salmonella and something else aswell as cocci, but I'll need to check that at work on Wednesday. Terrible memory will probably forget to check!

[shetlandpaul]

if they are commercial layers ether rescued or from an hatchery then they should have beed vaccinated. anyway it would be there fault anyway for not cooking the eggs well enough.

[Hermit]

Did they eat the same things with the eggs?

[gavo]

Eggs should not be washed as a rule they have a natural antibacterial coating designed to protect a developing chick which is effective for 2 weeks which is why fresh eggs DON'T NEED TO BE STORED IN FRIDGE  after 2 weeks it is advisable to store in a fridge; but if an egg is very dirty wash and use it quickly and store in a fridge .Free range hens produce lovely healthy eggs which if treated correctly will do no more harm than any other egg treated correctly.

[OhLaLa]

I don't wash eggs either, it removes the protective coating (the bloom). If the muck is really hard I gently use a bit of dry wire wool.

I found this for you:

To wash or not to wash?

Before you store your egg you need to remember that mother nature is smart. She added a protective layer to the egg called the bloom. The bloom helps to seal the egg from outside contaminants, and helps to keep the egg fresher, longer.

If you have a slightly grubby egg gently brush the egg with a clean dry cloth - you can remove most dirt without removing the bloom.

If you do prefer to wash your egg, use warm water. Place the washed eggs in the refrigerator in a sealed container. This will protect your eggs from picking up any aftertastes from other foods. These will last at least 2 months.

On average store eggs are 14 - 30 days old and you still have another 3-5 weeks from the sell by date for freshness.

[Greenerlife]

I would think it's much much much more likely tnat they have got food poisoning from something they ate WITH the eggs!  My OH nearly died of salmonella a few years back, not helped by being given penicillin which he became allergic to!  Your MIL has jumped to conclusions way too quickly I think.

[gavo]

Sorry but grade A eggs are not allowed to be washed and these are the eggs on sale in the shops.

[shetlandpaul]

how odd that you never see any muck on caged/barn eggs. very strange. im sure someone said that they do wash them. can't remember who it was but its strange that they are always clean.