Conservative guidelines say that eggs retain their peak quality three to five weeks beyond their sell-by date when kept raw, in their unwashed shells, and stored properly—meaning in a chilled location but not in your refrigerator door.
For example, an egg carton with a packaging date of 032, means the eggs were packed on February 1st. You can store fresh shell eggs in their cartons in the refrigerator for four to five weeks beyond this date.
If the eggs sink to the bottom and lay flat on their side, they're still fresh. However, if they sink, but stand on one end at the bottom of the glass or bowl, they're not as fresh but still edible. Of course, if any eggs float to the top, they shouldn't be eaten.
You can eat eggs past their expiration date. Just be sure to keep your eggs egg-cellent by storing them correctly. If you don't know if an egg is good or not, you can try the float test or give it a whiff. If it doesn't pass the test, throw it away.
While it is ideal to eat eggs before this date has passed, they are often still be safe to eat after this date, but its quality may have decreased. For example, you might notice changes in colour, flavour or texture if you choose to eat eggs after the best before date.
Conservative guidelines say that eggs retain their peak quality three to five weeks beyond their sell-by date when kept raw, in their unwashed shells, and stored properly—meaning in a chilled location but not in your refrigerator door.
In short, yes. It is safe to eat eggs after the recommended 'best before' date. And if you keep your eggs in the fridge, they are safe to eat up to three weeks after the given date. However, the taste and texture may be slightly different to what you're used to, and for certain dishes, freshest is best.
Old eggs should always be disposed of responsibly to avoid contamination and food-borne illnesses. You can choose to compost, feed them to animals, recycle them at local centers, or throw them in the trash. Eggs with foul odors or discoloration may be spoiled and should not be eaten.
What happens if you use old eggs. If you use older eggs, the cakes will not rise as well and pavlovas will be flatter than they should be. Generally, the cakes will still work as long as you get some volume from beating, they just won't be as tall or light-as-air as they should be.
Always purchase eggs before the Sell-By or EXP (expiration) date on the carton. After the eggs reach home, they may be refrigerated 3 to 5 weeks from the date they are placed in the refrigerator. The Sell-By date will usually expire during that length of time, but the eggs are perfectly safe to use.
According to the USDA, whole raw eggs in the shell will last three to five weeks in the refrigerator. They'll keep for four to five weeks beyond the pack date, and about three weeks beyond when you brought them home.
The case for refrigeration, however, is bolstered by the fact that the shelf life of refrigerated eggs is around 45 days, whereas unrefrigerated eggs are good for only about 21 days. This means that our squeaky clean and refreshingly cool American eggs do last longer than their cosmopolitan counterparts.
Pancakes or waffles can be made and frozen for later. You can also just freeze the eggs, eggs will freeze and thaw just fine. But in general there is very little science to the 'expiration' date on things, if they seem fine after that date, they probably are still fine.
Eggs can legally be sold up to a month after the sell-by date, after which they are indeed illegal but still very much edible for another two weeks or so, longer if they're hard-boiled and kept in the shell.
In Europe it's a health risk to store eggs in the fridge. In Australia, it's a health risk to store them out of the fridge. Who is right? The answer is all about Salmonella, the general name for about 2,000 types of bacteria that lead to food poisoning.
Best practice is to store eggs in the fridge; that way the temperature is always at a constant and your eggs will be fresher!
The eggs stored in cold temperature tend to undergo condensation when they are taken out to room temperature. This promotes the growth of bacteria over the egg shell, thereby contaminating the egg and making it harmful for human consumption.
Tips for Refrigerating Fresh Eggs
One way to make refrigerated eggs last even longer is to wrap each egg in plastic wrap. This adds another protective layer against the eggshell to prevent moisture from evaporating. Plastic wrapped eggs stored in the fridge will last for up to 2 months.
Discard refrigerated perishable food such as meat, poultry, fish, eggs, and leftovers after 4 hours without power. After a power outage never taste food to determine its safety.
Float test
If it sinks or stays at the bottom, it is still fresh. An older egg will either stand on its end or float. The float test works because air builds up inside the egg as it ages, increasing its buoyancy.
The theory is that, as an egg ages, the air pocket inside it grows larger, buoying an old egg to the surface. But, according to Dr. Schaffner, “there is no scientific basis for the egg float test.” So experimenting to see if your egg sinks or swims is not a reliable way to measure its quality.