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are eggs in Europe pasteurized?
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aloofPenguin piefed.world aloofPenguin@piefed.world
Joined: 2026-01-05
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I searched online but wasn't able to find anything useful. if not, why?

13   Original
Eq0 literature.cafe Eq0@literature.cafe
Joined: 2023-08-01
#2 · Quote Reply

No, eggs in Europe are usually not pasteurized. I don’t think I ever saw a pasteurized egg being sold. You can find at times pasteurized egg whites, but it’s a specialty ingredient. S for the why… a combination of habit, a food chain that is clean enough, and no economic incentive.

Is there a place that sells pasteurized eggs as default?

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rumschlumpel feddit.org rumschlumpel@feddit.org
Joined: 2024-06-23
#3 · (edited) Quote Reply

Doesn't that coagulate the protein?

So Wikipedia says this is done in the US and doesn't change the texture too much, but I really don't think this is commonly done in Europe. It also says this:

In the US, eggs are washed. This cleans the shell, but erodes its cuticle.[48][49] The USDA thus recommends refrigerating eggs to prevent the growth of Salmonella.[30]

Conversely, that would mean that in Europe, the salmonella risk for unpasteurized eggs just isn't as high, because of the way the eggs are cleaned.

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SlightlyNormal lemmy.world SlightlyNormal@lemmy.world
Joined: 2023-07-06
#4 · Quote Reply

For a while I could find pasteurized eggs in American grocery stores and I preferred them for things like tamago kake gohan or raw cookie dough. Then they disappeared, not sure if they went out of business.
Now I can only find "pasture-raised" eggs which are apparently a borderline scam due to the loose legal definition.
I got a sous vide machine and pasteurize any eggs that I need myself these days.

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YouTalkinToMe lemmy.world YouTalkinToMe@lemmy.world
Joined: 2026-08-12
#5 · Quote Reply

No, why do you think so?

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Zwuzelmaus feddit.org Zwuzelmaus@feddit.org
Joined: 2024-12-14
#6 · Quote Reply

wasn't able to find anything useful

LMAO! it has been covered so much in all the press just a few years ago when Usa tried so hard to impose their weird way of handling eggs on us, by means of several trade treaties.

1
Dultas lemmy.world Dultas@lemmy.world
Joined: 2023-08-03
#7 · (edited) Quote Reply

Doesn't that coagulate the protein? So Wikipedia says this is done in the US and doesn't change the texture too much, but I really don't think this is commonly done in Europe. It also says this: In the US, eggs are washed. This cleans the shell, but erodes its cuticle.[48][49] The USDA thus recommends refrigerating eggs to prevent the growth of Salmonella.[30] Conversely, that would mean that i...

They don't wash their eggs like in the US. From what I understand this preserves the protective layer of the shell and protects it from salmonella, this is also why they don't refrigerate their eggs either.

3
rumschlumpel feddit.org rumschlumpel@feddit.org
Joined: 2024-06-23
#8 · Quote Reply

They don't wash their eggs like in the US. From what I understand this preserves the protective layer of the shell and protects it from salmonella, this is also why they don't refrigerate their eggs either.

Yes, that's what the sentence I quoted says. However, European eggs still get cleaned, but only mechanically. It's not like they're all visibly covered in farm gunk.

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0^2 lemmy.dbzer0.com zer0squar3d@lemmy.dbzer0.com
Joined: 2024-03-20
#9 · Quote Reply

No, eggs in Europe are usually not pasteurized. I don’t think I ever saw a pasteurized egg being sold. You can find at times pasteurized egg whites, but it’s a specialty ingredient. S for the why… a combination of habit, a food chain that is clean enough, and no economic incentive. Is there a place that sells pasteurized eggs as default?

Interesting. Mostly all eggs are pasteurized in US.

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YiddishMcSquidish lemmy.today YiddishMcSquidish@lemmy.today
Joined: 2025-03-10
#10 · Quote Reply

Do you mean hard boiled pasture raised?

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aloofPenguin piefed.world aloofPenguin@piefed.world
Joined: 2026-01-05
#11 · (edited) Quote Reply

No, why do you think so?

in short, I had a flawed understanding of how salmonella transmits and thought that pasteurization was necessary to ensure safety (more specifically, I was thinking about raw eggs). a quick Wikipedia into salmonella cleared this up as well as the chicken vaccination that Europe does.

E: I had heard that pasteurization happens in the US (through internet), and thought "surely Europe must do this too?" because of flawed perception above

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YouTalkinToMe lemmy.world YouTalkinToMe@lemmy.world
Joined: 2026-08-12
#12 · Quote Reply

in short, I had a flawed understanding of how salmonella transmits and thought that pasteurization was necessary to ensure safety (more specifically, I was thinking about raw eggs). a quick Wikipedia into salmonella cleared this up as well as the chicken vaccination that Europe does. E: I had heard that pasteurization happens in the US (through internet), and thought "surely Europe must do this...

I see, thank you. I was genuinly trying to understand.
I had similar questions after being able to eat raw chicken in Japan.

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aloofPenguin piefed.world aloofPenguin@piefed.world
Joined: 2026-01-05
#13 · Quote Reply

I see, thank you. I was genuinly trying to understand. I had similar questions after being able to eat raw chicken in Japan.

no worries!

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djmikeale feddit.dk djmikeale@feddit.dk
Joined: 2025-06-24
#14 · (edited) Quote Reply

Interesting. Mostly all eggs are pasteurized in US.

Wondering if it has to do with salmonella? I can't speak on behalf of all of Europe, but at least in Denmark we have very low rates of it, which I reckon would decrease the demand for pasteurized eggs.
Source

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Treczoks lemmy.world Treczoks@lemmy.world
Joined: 2023-07-09
#15 · Quote Reply

One key difference are the conditions under which chicken are kept in Europe vs. the US.

Makes you wonder why here, they just brush the eggs lightly, and we can safely keep them at room temperature, while in the US they have to wash them because otherwise they would be to filthy to sell, and then have to keep them in the fridge so they won't go bad even before their unrefrigerated EU counterparts.

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Rothe piefed.social Rothe@piefed.social
Joined: 2025-08-25
#16 · Quote Reply

You can buy separate pasteurised egg whites and egg yolk, but whole eggs aren't pasteurised.

1
NightFantom slrpnk.net NightFantom@slrpnk.net
Joined: 2023-06-08
#17 · Quote Reply

For a while I could find pasteurized eggs in American grocery stores and I preferred them for things like tamago kake gohan or raw cookie dough. Then they disappeared, not sure if they went out of business. Now I can only find "pasture-raised" eggs which are apparently a borderline scam due to the loose legal definition. I got a sous vide machine and pasteurize any eggs that I need myself these days.

Pasteurisation and pasture raised are two entirely different things by the way.

2
dreugeworst lemmy.ml dreugeworst@lemmy.ml
Joined: 2022-11-09
#18 · (edited) Quote Reply

Interesting. Mostly all eggs are pasteurized in US.

according to google, if they're egg products like packaged egg whites it'll be pasteurized in the US, but most shell eggs aren't. this agrees with the warnings I often see in US recipes to not use raw eggs because of salmonella risk.

as far as I can tell, pasteurised shell eggs are sold in the us but are not the default, whereas I don't think I've ever seen a whole pasteurised egg in any EU country I've lived or visited

US whole eggs are washed of course, which also isn't done in the EU. but that difference has already been debated to death

1
SlightlyNormal lemmy.world SlightlyNormal@lemmy.world
Joined: 2023-07-06
#19 · Quote Reply

Pasteurisation and pasture raised are two entirely different things by the way.

I'm fully aware of that. I only bring it up because it catches my eye every time, making me think it says pasteurized.

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aloofPenguin piefed.world aloofPenguin@piefed.world
Joined: 2026-01-05
#20 · Quote Reply

Do you mean hard boiled pasture raised?

sorry for the late reply, but i was thinking about eggs that have been through the pasteurization process.

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0^2 lemmy.dbzer0.com zer0squar3d@lemmy.dbzer0.com
Joined: 2024-03-20
#21 · Quote Reply

according to google, if they're egg products like packaged egg whites it'll be pasteurized in the US, but most shell eggs aren't. this agrees with the warnings I often see in US recipes to not use raw eggs because of salmonella risk. as far as I can tell, pasteurised shell eggs are sold in the us but are not the default, whereas I don't think I've ever seen a whole pasteurised egg in any EU cou...

Maybe it varies by state?

1
dreugeworst lemmy.ml dreugeworst@lemmy.ml
Joined: 2022-11-09
#22 · Quote Reply

Maybe it varies by state?

yeah that would make sense

1
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