and excessive moisture loss In the United States, USDAstamped eggs are all washed prior to packaging, a step that removes the cuticle It may mean that our packaged eggs are cleaner to begin with, but it does mean that they have less protection against future bacterial infection as they sit in the supermarket—refrigeration is necessary to help prevent this But many eggs sold at farmers’ markets or in European supermarkets have not been washed prior to packing The cuticle remains intact, so refrigeration is unnecessary, but the eggs tend to have a shorter shelf life than refrigerated eggs Q: What about the “pasteurized eggs” I’m seeing on the market these days? Pasteurized eggs are a relatively new product They are sterilized by submerging the eggs in a water bath at around 130°F, a temperature that, given enough time, is hot enough to kill any harmful bacteria on or inside the egg but cool enough that the egg won’t cook Pasteurized eggs are useful for people who like to eat their eggs runny or in raw preparations like mayonnaise but don’t want to run the (very minimal) risk of getting sick from them For most cooking purposes, pasteurized eggs will work fine, though you’ll notice that the whites are runnier (making them difficult to poach or fry), and that they take about twice as long to whip into peaks The yolks work just as well as those from regular eggs in mayonnaise or Caesar salad dressing Q: Is it true that brown eggs are healthier than white? Absolutely not The color of the eggshell has to do with the breed of chicken, and it is largely controlled by market demands In most of New England, brown eggs are the norm, while the majority of the rest of the country prefers white eggs They are completely interchangeable Egg Labeling Q: I miss the old days, when I could walk into the supermarket and pick up a carton of eggs without feeling like I was making an important life decision These days, there are dozens of varieties to choose from What do all the labels mean? It is confusing, and it largely has to with growing consumer awareness about the conditions in which egglaying chickens are kept Most spend their lives as little more than egg-producing machines, housed in batteries of individual cages, unable to spread their wings or even move, with little or no access to a space where a chicken could perform its natural behaviors The label on the carton can be an indication of better welfare for the birds • Natural indicates that the eggs are minimally processed, but since all eggs are sold minimally processed, the label effectively means nothing Similarly, the term Farm-Fresh carries with it no guarantees, because presumably nobody is selling rotten eggs that don’t come from a farm • Free-Range, Free-Roaming, and Cage-Free eggs come from chickens that are not kept in battery cages, but instead in large open barns or warehouses That is a major improvement in quality of life for the chickens, allowing them to engage in natural behaviors like pecking, dust- ... brown eggs are the norm, while the majority of the rest of the country prefers white eggs They are completely interchangeable Egg Labeling Q: I miss the old days, when I could walk into the supermarket and pick up a carton of eggs without feeling... could perform its natural behaviors The label on the carton can be an indication of better welfare for the birds • Natural indicates that the eggs are minimally processed, but since all eggs are sold minimally processed, the. .. like I was making an important life decision These days, there are dozens of varieties to choose from What do all the labels mean? It is confusing, and it largely has to with growing consumer awareness about the conditions