• themeatbridge@lemmy.world
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    11 months ago

    In the US, there’s a concern for salmonella or other bacteria and viruses. Factory egg farming is a horror show in regards to overcrowding and hygiene. Sick birds are crammed in with healthy laying birds, and washing the eggs is one of the safest ways to prevent contamination.

    It does increase the permeability of the shell, decreasing shelf life and requiring refrigeration.

    If your eggs looked like this in the USA, there’s a small but non-zero chance that you’ll shit yourself to death. Probably not, but it’s scary enough.

    We could improve factory farming regulations so it’s not a like a Cronenberg movie, but then eggs would be more expensive. And even if we did, and stopped washing our eggs, Americans would still want them to look clean and would still keep them in the fridge because we’ve been conditioned to expect to die on the toilet covered in wet feces if we see bird poop on the eggs.

    • echo64@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      Fwiw, the eggs wouldn’t have to be more expensive, the eggs cost what the market will pay.

      The only change is that the people profiting from your poor food conditions will profit slightly less.

      This is a common lie they tell everyone.

    • Justin@lemmy.jlh.name
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      11 months ago

      Keeping unwashed eggs in the fridge at home helps them last longer, as long as you don’t leave them out to sweat.

      But yeah here in Sweden, we rarely ever get salmonella recalls since the chickens aren’t strapped to a box here.

    • Semi-Hemi-Demigod@kbin.social
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      11 months ago

      If your eggs looked like this in the USA, there’s a small but non-zero chance that you’ll shit yourself to death. Probably not, but it’s scary enough.

      Unless you got it from your own chicken coop

    • buzziebee@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      Chickens are vaccinated against salmonella (and a bunch of other things) when they are chicks in Europe. It means you don’t need to worry about shitting yourself to death, the chickens are slightly happier by not being sick, and your eggs stay fresher for longer.

      It would probably add $0.005 per egg, so US producers will claim it’s communism if a regulation is brought in to vaccinate chicken, but it would be worth doing.

      • themeatbridge@lemmy.world
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        11 months ago

        You mean you put 5G tracking devices in your chickens?

        Really, though, getting poultry farmers to spend a penny per dozen eggs is like trying to squeeze water from a rock.

        • lad@programming.dev
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          11 months ago

          Yeah, it helps one find them if they run away

          They’ve made a documentary about it back in the day: chicken run (2000) movie screenshot

          • Honytawk@lemmy.zip
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            11 months ago

            They recently made a new one with up-to-date info on the security of those chickens

      • ArtificialLink@lemy.lol
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        11 months ago

        Fuckin finally. The tryna high road the Europe and shit like they don’t have poor chicken treatment situations too. Its all down to vaccination requirements. They the treatment of chickens cause both places have issues lol

      • fidodo@lemmy.world
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        11 months ago

        Refrigerating the eggs end to end costs money too, possibly more. I don’t think it’s about ongoing cost but rather upfront cost to switching.

    • BruceTwarzen@kbin.social
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      11 months ago

      At what point do people not just think that maybe going vegan isn’t that bad of an alternative

      • themeatbridge@lemmy.world
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        11 months ago

        But eggs are yummy. Baked goods, thickened sauces, omelettes and deviled eggs and egg salad, you can’t really replace them with vegan alternatives. Aquafaba is pretty close for some of it, but people like their eggs and don’t care about how much their food suffers before we eat it.

      • afraid_of_zombies@lemmy.world
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        11 months ago

        It is way too challenging in my mind at least. I do one meat meal a week and veg the rest. All the fun stuff has milk and eggs in it.

        But hey you do it if it makes you happy.