This is a requirement of the Food Standards Code. Refrigeration of eggs throughout the supply chain, including during wholesale and retail storage could reduce the risk of human Salmonellosis.
Most egg producers in Australia recommend that eggs are stored below 15°C. This means that if the temperature in your kitchen is warmer than this, and in Queensland it most likely will be, then you should store your eggs in the fridge.
Food Standards Australia New Zealand's Response
The statement continues to say that refrigerating whole eggs is not required because: The Salmonella bacteria which can contaminate an egg while it's inside the bird isn't present in Australian eggs.
In most European countries, Salmonella is kept under control with preventative measures like vaccination. Farms are usually not allowed to wash eggs, so the cuticles remain intact, precluding refrigeration.
American farms wash eggs to strip the cuticle, or outer protective layer, which prevents contamination outside the shell. Without the cuticle, eggs must be refrigerated to combat bacterial infection from inside. In Europe, it's illegal to wash eggs and instead, farms vaccinate chickens against salmonella.
Most people will still put them in the fridge at home, but because in Germany and most of Europe eggs are not washed and sterilized, unlike in the US and Canada, whereby the protective layer on the outside can be damaged, eggs don't HAVE to be refrigerated so the store sells them on the shelf.
The Europeans, on the other hand, don't wash their eggs in order to rely on this natural “cuticle” to protect from contamination entering the egg. Many European countries, like the UK, vaccinate their hens to prevent the transmission of salmonella when the hens lay eggs.
British authorities actually discourage refrigerating eggs on the theory that chilling and then warming could create condensation, which would allow salmonella to penetrate the shell.
Japan also standardized a system of egg washing and refrigeration after a serious salmonella outbreak in the 1990s.
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.
If you've been to a country other than the USA, you might have! Most countries do not store their eggs in refrigerators. Instead, they leave them out at room temperature. This might seem like a food safety hazard, but both methods are safe.
— Never keep eggs unrefrigerated for more than two hours. — Raw eggs and recipes that require them should either be cooked immediately or be refrigerated promptly and cooked within 24 hours.
Is There a Salmonella Risk? The risk is low as Australia has strict food safety laws and strong state agencies with responsibility for regulating our food system. Egg farmers also do everything they can to supply safe, clean, and fresh eggs.
Why The U.S. Chills Its Eggs And Most Of The World Doesn't : The Salt In many countries, eggs aren't refrigerated and they're still considered safe to eat. But in the U.S., we have to chill them, because we've washed away the cuticle that protects them from bacteria.
Egg washing is not required in Australia, but sale of dirty eggs is prohibited by Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ). Storing washed eggs below 7°C can help reduce the ability of Salmonella to grow.
Turns out, the major difference lies in the method by which milk is processed. Almost all milk is pasteurized, meaning it undergoes extreme heat in order to kill illness-causing bacteria. The U.S. and Canada use a pasteurizing technique called high-temperature short-time pasteurization, or HTST.
If eggs are allowed to reach room temperature it can cause condensation and encourage mildew. So – washing is the answer to why don't Germans refrigerate their eggs. Other considerations include the fact that room-temperature eggs are better for cooking.
The various sauces and oils used in local cooking keep at room temperature for months easily. Even eggs, contrary to what many Americans might believe, do not need refrigeration to stay fresh. Technologies of food processing and packaging implicitly accommodated the general lack of refrigeration in the community.
In supermarkets across the United States, Australia, and Japan, eggs can be found in the refrigerated section alongside other cold items such as milk and cheese. However, in most other countries of the world, eggs can be found stored at room temperature alongside nonperishable food items.
In the UK, Grade A hen eggs may not be washed because the process is thought to "aid the transfer of harmful bacteria like salmonella from the outside to the inside of the egg," according to the Food Safety Authority of Ireland.
In the US, to reduce the risk of salmonella infection, eggs are washed and sprayed with a chemical sanitiser before they are sold to the public. Clean eggs are kept at cooler temperatures to prevent the eggs from deteriorating as quickly and to keep the growth of bacteria in check.
Jains abstain from eating eggs. Many Hindu and Orthodox Sikh vegetarians also refrain from eating eggs. An egg that naturally contains a spot of blood may not be eaten under Jewish and Islamic tradition, but eggs without any blood are commonly consumed (and are not considered to be meat, so may be eaten with dairy).
In Japan, a highly advanced machine takes care of the whole process automatically: cleaning the eggs, checking them for quality, sorting them for size, and finally packaging them and sealing the carton. Of course, eggs are very fragile and the slightest of bumps can be enough to crack them.
It's not a natural trait of a fancy European breed of hen or a sign of overly pampered birds. The yolk color actually comes from what the hens eat: a diet rich in carotenoids, the natural yellow-orange pigment found in fruits (cantaloupe), vegetables (carrots, sweet potatoes, and kale), and flowers.
So we still need to exercise a little caution when baking desserts with raw eggs here in Israel. Even though some shops have eggs on the shelves and not the fridge, always store your eggs in the fridge. So there you have it. Eggs in a nutshell.