How Long Can Eggs Stay Stay at Room Temperature?
Eggs can stay at room temperature for 2 weeks without losing their quality and still remain safe to eat. The United States Food and Drug Administration recommends storing eggs in the refrigerator immediately after purchasing them.
Supermarket eggs in the U.S. are power-washed with the intention of removing dangerous pathogens and organic matter from the surface. As an added safety measure, eggs in the U.S. are sold under refrigeration and recommends that supermarket bought eggs should not be left out for more than two hours.
In contrast eggs in U.K. supermarkets are not refrigerated and a good number of households in the U.K. do not store their eggs in the fridge. More than just a matter of preference, egg-laying hens in the U.K. are vaccinated against salmonella,while their U.S. counterparts are not. It is therefore understandable why the FDA takes extra measures to ensure food safety when it comes to the storage and handling of eggs.
The Mail, a U.K. based newspaper, conducted a mini-study to find out which method of storing eggs is better. The study concluded that there are no difference between the two batches of eggs that were stored in the fridge and eggs that were stored at room temperature for a period of two weeks.
