Eggs Produced in America are Officially Banned in the U.K and Vice Versa

I was surprised when I read on a British news portal that Eggs from the United States of America have an embargo on them relative to entering EU territory.

For me as a poultry farmer and someone very much interested in the happenings in the industry, I tried to dig further. Apparently, the United States has done the same to the UK. Eggs from the UK are banned from entering the North American country.

I asked myself a simple question, but an egg is an egg so why all these?

I got my answers in full and of course, I’m willing to share them with you. A synopsis of the whole matter has got to do with hygiene.

America has its own way of dealing with eggs while the United Kingdom also have their way of going about their eggs. That’s the point of departure – and for that reason – they have resorted to banning eggs from entering into each other’s jurisdiction.

Eggs from the US are said to be washed to remove bacteria from the shells. Unfortunately, the washing process is said to remove the bacteria and virus-resistant naturally occurring film that protects eggs from contamination. US eggs need to be refrigerated from the moment they are washed onward.

Washing eggs is not permitted within the EU and refrigeration is both completely unnecessary and strongly discouraged as it can lead to the natural protective film being breached.

The EU Regulation that covers it is:

In general, eggs should not be washed or cleaned because such practices can cause damage to the eggshell, which is an effective barrier to bacterial ingress with an array of antimicrobial properties. However, some practices, such as the treatment of eggs with ultra-violet rays, should not be interpreted as constituting a cleaning process.

Moreover, Class A eggs should not be washed because of the potential damage to the physical barriers, such as the cuticle, which can occur during or after washing. Such damage may favour trans-shell contamination with bacteria and moisture loss and thereby increase the risk to consumers, particularly if subsequent drying and storage conditions are not optimal.

Basically, it says that a thin layer on the exterior of the egg called the cuticle is damaged by washing and this opens up the egg for microbial ingress, the damage to that cuticle is why US eggs have to be refrigerated to slow down the microbial activity.

Well, so there you have it. It’s very interesting, isn’t it?