Is it okay to eat broken eggs?

Everyone has experienced the agony of discovering a broken egg in a carton they had just purchased home from the grocery. Whether it broke in your bag or it was broken before you bought it and you didn’t notice, this is inconvenient and may leave you wondering if cracked eggs are safe to eat.

Is it okay to eat broken eggs? If an egg has been broken for a long time, it is not safe to consume. You should not consume an egg if you suspect it was cracked at the supermarket. But, if you inadvertently shatter an egg on your way home or while putting away your shopping, you may safely store it in a clean container and leave it in the fridge until you are ready to use it.

Why Do Cracked Eggs Become Unsafe to Eat?

The shell of an egg is very good at keeping microbes out. Salmonella and other infections may live on the egg’s surface, but they may seldom enter until the shell is ruptured. Since humans do not consume the egg shells, surface bacteria is typically unimportant until the egg is cracked.

Even after the egg has been shattered, it takes time for the germs to enter the egg. Yet, given enough time, the egg will almost likely be harmed by something unpleasant, especially if the membrane within the shell has also torn, forming a second protective layer.

The egg will remain longer if the membrane is not damaged, but it should still be handled with care and not ingested if you do not know when the break in the shell formed.

Bacteria on the shells of old eggs is more likely since any specks have had time to grow. This increases the likelihood of germs spreading to the egg when the shell is shattered, and if this happens, the egg is unsafe to eat.

So, how can you tell if the egg was broken at the shop or on the way home? If you failed to check the eggs at the shop (which you should do to avoid this problem), you just don’t know, and the egg should be tossed.

Remember that a broken egg does not equal a rotten egg. Bacteria won’t make the egg smell unpleasant, so you won’t know whether it’s safe to eat, and you might get food poisoning if you eat it. You should toss away the egg unless you know it was just broken.

Why Are Freshly Cracked Eggs Safe to Eat?

It may make you question why a newly cracked egg isn’t at risk of carrying salmonella. The basic explanation is that the bacteria haven’t had time to enter and grow in the egg, therefore the danger is still extremely low. The longer the egg is cracked yet uncooked and uneaten, the higher the danger.

If you raise your own hens and unintentionally break an egg with chicken excrement on it, you should toss the egg even if it was just recently broken. You can judge the distance between the excrement and the crack, but the presence of feces makes the egg less hygienic, and it may no longer be safe to eat.

You may be wondering how long an egg can be broken before it becomes harmful, but this is a topic that no one can fully answer. The egg’s safety decreases the moment the crack appears, and when it is deemed unsafe is a matter of judgment.

Similarly, the size of a fracture matters. A small crack is less dangerous than a larger crack or many fractures. You must make a choice based on your own emotions about the circumstance.

Some individuals will throw away any broken egg, whereas the majority will eat an egg that has barely cracked in the previous hour or so.

What Should You Do If You Crack An Egg By Mistake?

If your initial impulse is to shut the box and pretend nothing happened, you’re on the wrong track. Instead, expand the crack (if required) so that you may neatly break apart the shell and transfer the contents of the egg to a sterile container. A tiny cup will suffice.

Place the shell in your compost bin and then cover it up. You may use a saucer or clingfilm to keep the egg fresh for as long as possible by minimizing airflow. Put it in the refrigerator.

You should then utilize the egg as soon as possible. If you don’t utilize it within two days after breaking it, you risk germs growing in the egg.

Eggs may also shatter when frozen if they are stored towards the top of the refrigerator.

What if the egg shell breaks when you’re cooking it? In this instance, you should not be concerned about eating the egg. Any germs on the shell will not be able to enter and breed within the egg, therefore eating them will not raise your risk of salmonella.

Is There Still Salmonella Risk with a Cracked Egg?

Salmonella is often connected with eggs, and although contracting it from properly treated eggs is uncommon, you should be aware of the danger. When you buy eggs, store them in the refrigerator; this is the USDA’s suggestion for preventing bacterial spread.

You should also ensure that eggs are properly cooked and avoid eating runny eggs. While many people prefer runny yolks, they do increase your chance of acquiring salmonella. Yet, the whites are more likely to be contaminated since they surround the yolk and germs take longer to move through.

Final Thoughts

If you have just cracked an egg, you may place it in a clean container for later use or eat it right immediately. But, if you don’t know when an egg broke and it’s been cracked for a while, you should toss it. It may be composted properly to reduce the risk of food poisoning.