19926 Tue May 21 14:05:12 -0700 2002 5 1 San Francisco Bay Area 0 67730 It seems like all the corner stores around me (in the Mission) insist on storing their eggs on the shelves and not in the fridge. This seems like a bad idea, since it says on the carton "Keep Refrigerated". Does anyone know if these are ok to eat? It's not like they're fresh from the proprietor's chicken out back. They're plain old grocery store eggs. Tue May 21 14:05:12 -0700 2002 0 Miranda 1 67731 Same deal going on at the Lion Market in San Jose. In fact the balut cartons are also stacked in the open air. The clientelle are seemingly healthy so it is obviously not a problem for well cooked eggs. Tue May 21 14:16:06 -0700 2002 67730 0 Ken Hoffman 2 67813 Back in the days that I lived with no electricity, the ice box was so tiny that the eggs stayed on top of it rather than in it. We never had a problem. The eggs probably don't stay fresh as long though. The salmonella poisoning that has people worried about eggs, I have heard, is from fecal contamination on the outside of the shells being transferred to the edible part when one opens them. So, wash and dry them before cracking open, and that is most likely to prevent a problem. Just don't keep them forever. Wed May 22 02:57:12 -0700 2002 67731 0 kim cooper 3 67832 The inside of eggs is a sterile environment, so they can keep for months without refrigeration. Of course, you don't know how long these eggs have been sitting there and how long ago they were lain by the chicken. Ken is right that salmonella is on the outside of the shell. A friend of mine who raises chickens washes all of her eggs in a mild bleach solution. If you are concerned, this might be a good idea. Wed May 22 11:16:29 -0700 2002 67813 0 RedRob 4 68130 This isn't necessarily true. Salmonella has been found inside of egg shells. See the link below from the FDA. The inside of the egg is most definitely not a sterile environment. On the other hand, my experience is that eggs at room temperature do fine -- I remember them being sold and stored that way in China and never experienced any ill effects. -Peter Link: http://vm.cfsan.fda.gov/~mow/chap1.html Fri May 24 16:40:36 -0700 2002 67832 0 Peter Yee 1 67929 Eggs are fine at room temperature. The bakery I used to work at kept 2 cases out at all times. The inside of the egg is a sterile environment - it's the outside of the egg that can get contaminated. Even then, if you cook the eggs properly, salmonella gets killed - pretty easily too. Wed May 22 22:01:41 -0700 2002 67730 0 Erik