This article discusses yet another energy wasting difference between the US and many other countries: our less than necessary refrigeration of eggs. Since American food purchasing seems to revolve around aesthetics and much food legislation aims to tackle food health concerns that our culture seems to find the most scary, it is law that egg producers wash their eggs in standardized machines. The scary health concern I’m talking about is salmonella; and the law I’m talking about was created in 1970 when the USDA perfected “the art of wash.” Interestingly enough, this washing actually gets rid of a thin layer on the egg that naturally exists to keep water and oxygen in and keep bad bacteria out. Predictably, we have stepped into a natural process and said “we will replace this perfectly fine natural adaptation with our own technology that requires electricity and therefore, in most cases, use of fossil fuels.”
Although salmonella can be a valid threat, many European countries just vaccinate their egg-laying chickens instead of wasting the electricity. It turns out that the rate of egg related food safety issues is about the same. This is yet another example of how culture surrounding food can be misinformed and we waste valuable resources because of it.
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