Is it a myth that water removes an egg's bloom?

[chickendadva]

What do you think? Is it a myth that washing eggs with water removes the bloom? Am I misunderstanding something? What if the protective quality of the bloom is compromised by water even if the bloom isn't removed? (Guess I could try to research that too.)

A couple of things, which are supported by your research

The bloom is supposed to form a waterproof seal around the egg as water is the most efficient mode of travel for bacteria. So...how can something that is supposed to be waterproof be rinsed off by plain water?

Second the bloom is not a foolproof shield. This is evidenced by the number of people who still get rotted eggs that didn't wash.

Third the bloom is designed to break down as the chick forms and needs to exchange respiration gases through the pores of the shell. This happens in 14 to 21 days regardless of whether you are growing a chick or not.

4th the bloom is a soft tacky mucous membrane that quickly dries and hardens after laying. This is why nesting material sometimes sticks to the egg. Any foreign substance the egg comes in contact with before it dries can compromise the bloom. So that poop on the egg may have already wiped off part of the bloom before it dried. Rule of thumb, if you can't wipe off the poop with a little light scrubbing there is a good chance that the poop has compromised the bloom. If you don't want to wash it, use the "water glassing" method of storing them in a hydrated lime-water solution at room temperature. The hydrated-lime will kill the bacteria in the poop but not penetrate the shell. This of course will be not kill the bacteria if its already penetrated the egg, but if you use a large enough container these eggs will automatically become buoyant and float when the yolk is eaten by the bacteria.

 

[Altairsky]

It is forbidden in EU to wash eggs. Eggs in EU are safe to be eaten a la coque, which means still raw on the inside.
Eggs in America are washed. In US it's strongly advised to cook them until they reach 165°F for at least 1 second (which is an insane temperature for us italians). I prefer my eggs to be bolied 1 minute and drink them raw.

I think this tells everything about the cuticle. US eggs are even banned from most EU countries for this very reason. Washed eggs are considered unsafe to eat because cleaning them destroys the bloom.