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Wet market eggs safe?

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  1. #11

    Here's a proper answer: local women check each and every egg under that light before they buy them - my nan does it, my mum does it, and so do most other "old school" local ladies. They do it as they think they can see when an egg has gone off, NOT to check for embryo. So hopefully what your vendor was doing was actually screening the eggs in order to throw out the "off" ones.

    However I highly doubt that them eggs are really from Holland if they are "very cheap". Safe, yes, but most defo not Dutch.

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  2. #12

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    There is a chance these are actual Dutch eggs . . .

    Perhaps the wet market vendor has purchased eggs that are past the sell-by-date from another source and is reselling them. That might explain why she looks at them under the light - to pick out the ones that have gone bad.

    Last edited by huja; 28-03-2012 at 08:35 PM.

  3. #13

    perhaps its just a dutch chicken with appropriate visas here in HK laying fresh eggs to add to the local flare?


  4. #14

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    I buy eggs at the local markets all the time. I dunno where they're from, nor do i care, but they seem to be fine, none the less.


  5. #15

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    Quote Originally Posted by ScotchDrinker:
    Here's a proper answer: local women check each and every egg under that light before they buy them - my nan does it, my mum does it, and so do most other "old school" local ladies. They do it as they think they can see when an egg has gone off, NOT to check for embryo. So hopefully what your vendor was doing was actually screening the eggs in order to throw out the "off" ones.

    However I highly doubt that them eggs are really from Holland if they are "very cheap". Safe, yes, but most defo not Dutch.
    Thanks for the reply. I guess that makes more sense then looking for an embryo. I wonder what exacttly would be the sign that they are "off"

    About them being from Holland, I also am not to sure about that. Doesnt seem to make sense that Holland would export eggs here. But the same stall always has a basket with eggs from Holland,Thailand,USA and sometimes Japan. So there must be some difference.

  6. #16

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    Why are you worrying? If the egg is fertilised it must have come from free range chooks. Isn't that better than a battery farm?


  7. #17

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    Using the light to check if eggs are fresh - you know how rotten eggs give off that disgusting smell when cracked, and how they float in cold water? Well, it's because a large pocket of gas has formed from the breakdown of the original contents. It's quite visible when you shine a light through the shell.

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  8. #18

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    This is an age old Chinese method to check if eggs are bad or not. I've seen them doing this when I went to the market with my mother when I was a little kid before we emigrated to UK. Chinese people treat eggs differently to Western people. For a start, we don't normally put them in a fridge, as you would have noticed the eggs just in baskets in the wet markets as opposed to them in fridges in supermarkets.

    Secondly, there will not be any 'best before' dates on them. Its all this health and safety really. I always have eggs that are months old in my fridge, and theres nothing wrong with them.


  9. #19

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    I don't keep eggs in the fridge unless the weather is very hot. My parents in the UK never keep eggs in the fridge.


  10. #20

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    Eggs in the US are washed at the farm (by law) which has the effect of removing the outer bloom, or the 'cuticle'. The cuticle protects the egg from bacteria entering through pores in the shell. This washing is designed to remove the bacteria that can be present during the laying process or from sitting in the nest before collection, but also has the result of making the egg shells more porus and subject to bacterial infection during shipping and storage. Therefore, with US eggs, it is recommended that they stay refridgerated from the farm all the way to the time you cook them in an effort to minimize bacterial growth.

    Eggs from other nations may not have had the cuticle removed and thus might have more natural protection against bacteria, though may still have bacteria present on the shell from the laying and storage process (how clean is a chicken nest?). You can leave these unrefridgerated, but I have seen some nations have egg instructions saying something like "keeps 4 weeks unrefridgerated or 8 weeks refridgerated" or numbers to that effect). With the heat, humidity, and general hygenie of some wet markets, I would probably pick my eggs carefully too.

    I guess it poses another question: do you wash your eggs before cracking them open?

    UPDATE: This is an interesting answer to that question, should eggs be washed. There are risks to washing and risks to not washing.

    http://www.cfs.gov.hk/english/multim...fsf_29_01.html

    I should note that while some countries do not "require" eggs to be refridgerated, many of them do actually "recommend" it. In several of the documents on the HK Food Safety site and the World Health Organization they recommend food processors / restaurants keep eggs at temperatures under 10c, though they are silent as to individual buyers. Also interesting to note that in a study a few years ago about 1/3 of the salmonella cases in Hong Kong came from eggs.

    Last edited by penguinsix; 29-03-2012 at 08:03 AM.
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