Selling eggs - QUESTION

[TJAnonymous]

Wasn't sure what forum to put this question so I hope people see it quickly.

I usually collect eggs daily but sometimes it is a day or two (24 - 48 hrs) before I can. I don't wash them right away in an effort to preserve the bloom. I do usually put them in a refrigerator after they are collected.

I now have 20 - 30 dozen eggs. More than I usually sell or give away. I'm hoping to take them to the farmers market in town or even set up in a parking lot in town and see if I can sell them cheaper than I usually do.

So I have been washing up eggs all evening that I just took out of the refrigerator. They have likely been in there for several weeks. In the process of washing, I've noticed some eggs are standing on their ends. Not floating to the point where it is off the bottom of the sink, but not laying on its side.

My question - would you sell these eggs that are standing up in the sink?

I don't want to make anyone sick! Especially since my husband is a health inspector so there will be more scrutiny and this is a small town.

So far I've been separating out any that stand up because I'm worried about bacteria inside.

If the consensus is that they are not safe, I will bury them in a raised bed or something.

 

[Brooks_]

I've read that the float test only says how fresh, not good or bad.

 

[Parront]

They are safe to eat. I boil them when they are like that so that they will peel easily. Same with the small pullet eggs that I would not sell. I like to pickle them in mason jars. If you have separated them, I would sell them as eggs that are older, & "ready to make boiled eggs now". Your customers will appreciate your honesty. When we buy eggs from the store, those have been in refrigerated storage for a few weeks sometimes before they go to the store. They get graded by weight, your eggs that are almost floating would weigh less and be used for processing/cooked food sales commercially. Here in Arizona, they have wording, "Nest Run", that means your eggs are not graded by a gov't agency. Each state is different, you might want to check your state's web site for agriculture about such rules, since it sounds like you have a lot of eggs!

 

[saysfaa]

I would eat them. I would not sell them as fresh eggs.

I probably wouldn't sell them at all - not worried about the eggs making people sick but a little worried about people who get sick from something else after they ate the eggs. And about people who either go home and float test and think they aren't good or go home with them expecting them to last as long as fresh eggs would.

I like the idea of "ready to boil" but that depends on your market. If your customers are used to farm fresh eggs, that could work well. If they aren't, you might not want to get into either explaining that weeks old eggs are fine or that fresh eggs are hard to peel.

 

[poultryprofessor]

I dislike the "float" method of testing eggs because it is difficult to interpret and you never really know what is going on inside the egg.

I would recommend using a small flashlight (or candler if you want to get fancy) and grading your eggs according to USDA standards. This involves looking at the air cell size, shell abnormalities, etc.

Here is a good resource that talks about how: https://www.extension.iastate.edu/s.../4-Hprojects/Poultry/1 Grading_table_eggs.pdf

 

[U_Stormcrow]

No. I sell eggs routinely - another two flats (60 eggs) just a few hours ago - and have to rely on word of mouth to get my brand out there. The only thing that distinguishes me from anyone else is freshness and the pasture on which I raise my birds. Plenty of people have similar breeds, similar color eggs, similar size eggs, similar pastures. We are all rock bottom on price.

That leaves Freshness.

Does the USDA allow you to collect eggs for up to 30 days and still sell for human consumption? Sure. Are you even USDA graded? Nope. Can you sell the eggs legally? Maybe. Depends on the State. Are you offering an inferior product? ABSOLUTELY.

Maybe that's good enough for you. Its not how I do business.

 

[TJAnonymous]

No. I sell eggs routinely - another two flats (60 eggs) just a few hours ago - and have to rely on word of mouth to get my brand out there. The only thing that distinguishes me from anyone else is freshness and the pasture on which I raise my birds. Plenty of people have similar breeds, similar color eggs, similar size eggs, similar pastures. We are all rock bottom on price.

That leaves Freshness.

Does the USDA allow you to collect eggs for up to 30 days and still sell for human consumption? Sure. Are you even USDA graded? Nope. Can you sell the eggs legally? Maybe. Depends on the State. Are you offering an inferior product? ABSOLUTELY.

Maybe that's good enough for you. Its not how I do business.

I may have to disagree with you there. My eggs are not USDA graded, but that doesn't mean I cut corners or try to sell an inferior product to an unwitting public. I have a small backyard flock. I give away more eggs than I sell....but I do sell at the farmers market because I feel it is wasteful to simply throw them out and I use the money collected towards their feed. That being said, I follow all of our state laws - especially around not using recycled egg cartons and keeping my eggs at the correct temperature which is something that many people at the farmers market do not do....

Perhaps you didn't intend to come across as patronizing and condescending but that's how I perceived it.... That by asking a mere question about freshness, my business somehow is inferior and doesn't rise to your standards. I don't appreciate the insinuation.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

That by asking a mere question about freshness, my business somehow is inferior and doesn't rise to your standards. I don't appreciate the insinuation.

I responded to your comments and offered some insight into how I do business, and the market I compete in. No insinuation. No misunderstanding. Your product does not rise to my standards.

Emphasis mine.

I usually collect eggs daily but sometimes it is a day or two (24 - 48 hrs) before I can.

I don't wash them right away in an effort to preserve the bloom.

I do usually put them in a refrigerator after they are collected.

So I have been washing up eggs all evening that I just took out of the refrigerator.

They have likely been in there for several weeks.

I now have 20 - 30 dozen eggs. More than I usually sell or give away. I'm hoping to take them to the farmers market in town or even set up in a parking lot in town and see if I can sell them cheaper than I usually do.


My question - would you sell these eggs that are standing up in the sink?

You are using a mix of methods, blending the approach of the USDA and the EU. Neither would approve your handling, as I understand their requirements. It *may* be perfectly safe - I don't know - but its not a method the State of FL allows me to use for the processing of shell eggs.

Some of your eggs are of unknown age, likely as you say, several weeks - an opinion supported by the assumedly larger air sack indicated by some eggs standing upright in a water test. The outcome of that test tells you nothing about sanitation or safety, only that the eggs are older, less fresh.

Your process is *irregular*. I understand. Life happens. It has been my experience in food service and restaurant management that irregular processes encourage unknowing mistakes, particularly in inventory control. It does not guarantee mistakes of course, nor does regular process ensure against error (if anything, it ensures only that the same error is made repeatedly).

The fact that you are willing to undercut your normal pricing **suggests** you are aware those eggs aren't top quality anymore, though as I said above, the USDA would allow their sale if you were of commercial scale as shell eggs (assuming they are less than 30 days old and pass their visual inspections).

I collect eggs multiple times daily. The eggs are cleaned and sanitized (test strips for the sanitation water) before refrigeration. Fresh batch of sanitation dip every gathering of eggs, at temperature of at least 105 degrees. The eggs remain under refrigeration until delivery to a consumer. My flats are day coded, first in, first out. Sanitized between uses.

I personally won't sell an egg more than 7 days old, an admittedly arbitrary decision on my part. Its a certainty that my wife and I can tell the difference between an egg in the fry pan just gathered, and one 10 days old. The yolk stands less tall, the whites more runny. Not a safety issue, just one of freshness. We do routinely eat older eggs that didn't sell. Hell, we deliberately hold eggs back until they are two weeks old if we are making deviled eggs - its easier to get the shells off of old eggs - but we don't sell them.

So no, *I* would not sell those eggs.

/edited to link to the source of my washable, bleachable plastic storage flats