Do you need to refrigerate all eggs?

Store-bought eggs must be refrigerated from farm to table. But if they’re fresh off the farm, it’s a different story.

“Commercial eggs are washed at a processing plant,” says Maribel Alonso, a technical information specialist at the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Washing removes dirt and bacteria from the eggs’ shells, she adds, “but it also eliminates the ‘bloom.’”

That’s the natural coating that helps keeps water in and bacteria like Salmonella out.

“The washed shell is porous, so anything on the outside can contaminate the inside,” explains Alonso. Once the bloom is gone, refrigeration keeps Salmonella from growing.

Read more at Nutrition Action