

AIBU to throw out eggs past their sell-by date?

(73 Posts)
emess Sun 05-May-13 13:20:57

They were 5-6 weeks past their sell-by date. They belonged to PIL. MIL is unwell and housebound after a fall (and hospital stay) and has no appetite. FIL is doing his best but neither of them have eaten much for weeks. I am cooking for them when I can. We visit multiple times per day plus MIL now has carers coming in night and morning. Their ages are 85 & 89. I said it was for safety but he's annoyed with me for 'wasting' food. I'm normally happy to eat stuff that's past it's date, but eggs? For an elderly couple not in the best of health? I replaced them with fresh ones, by the way, before I threw them out so it's not like I left them with nothing to eat.

prettybird Mon 06-May-13 17:17:50

The only black egg I have every had was also "in" date - and stank once it was cracked open.

IneedAsockamnesty Mon 06-May-13 20:15:07

I'm talking about supermarket eggs ones that have been fed on sulphur reducing feed.

Trill Mon 06-May-13 20:16:12

If an egg is rotten you will know when you crack it.

minniemagoo France Mon 06-May-13 20:21:39

Definately the best decision to not let elderly rellies eat them, no point in taking any risks at their age.
On the other hand, don't just dump them, bury them at roots of plants, they decompose and are a fab waste smile

AmberLeaf Mon 06-May-13 20:31:52

Sock you said eggs that float are rotten, that is not true and I posted explaining why.

Not sure where you're going with this all really.

aderynlas Mexico Mon 06-May-13 20:36:19

flowers op, for being so kind hope your dmil gets well soon.

Talkinpeace Mon 06-May-13 20:36:38

WATER test every time :
old eggs make the best meringues
elderly eggs make excellent fritata
medium eggs are great scrambled or in cakes
fresh eggs are needed for frying and poaching

the egg I found in a flower pot that the fox had hidden : THAT was rank !

sarahtigh Mon 06-May-13 21:10:17

sock unfortunately you are just wrong, unless you have no sense of smell whatsoever you can tell a rotten egg if out of date slightly just break eggs into bowl and sniff one by one

i would not give a very young child or the vulnerable an egg 5 weeks past date but there is no need for inaccurate scare tactics

IneedAsockamnesty Mon 06-May-13 23:43:54

So its a scare tactic to say that a egg that stands up right on its small tip is not fresh at all.

And a egg that totally floats should not be eaten even if it does not smell?

How very dramatic.

Not one person on this thread who has talked about using the floating egg test has said a floating egg is a sign of a perfectly good egg that's why people use that test, if it floats bin it.

AmberLeaf Mon 06-May-13 23:50:46

No you resorted to scare tactics when your previous 'eggs that float are totally rotten' post was disproved.

Even now you are still staying floating eggs are no good, which is bollocks.

Is it that hard to admit you were wrong? personal preference is one thing, but to carry on stating that floating eggs are bad is a bit silly really.

IneedAsockamnesty Mon 06-May-13 23:55:33

It was not disproved you just disagree with me.

Eggs that float should not be eaten. If eggs that float are perfectly fine to eat then why do people bother with the float test at all.

Surely smell alone would be enough.

AmberLeaf Tue 07-May-13 00:06:17

It was disproved! I disagree with you because you are wrong

There is nothing wrong [ie bad ] about floating eggs.

People 'bother with' the float test, to see how old eggs are, not to see if they are bad, cracking one open will tell you if it is bad or not. Also lots of people do the float test under the wrong impression this will show if they are bad or not. You can get bad eggs that don't float too.

Yes, smell alone is enough, that's why sensible people crack eggs they are unsure about into a bowl first rather than straight into flour or whatever. Read talkinpeaces post.

If you would rather only eat the freshest of eggs that's fine, but that is just your personal preference.

IneedAsockamnesty Tue 07-May-13 00:22:21

How on earth does the air pocket get bigger with out the shell cracking because they do not expand, what do you think has happened to the actual egg inside to allow more air to fit in.

Its a decomposing process.

You eat as many eggs that float on the top of water as you want I'm perfectly content not to when I know that egg is from a supermarket.

AmberLeaf Tue 07-May-13 01:12:48


Because the shell is porous.

So you would eat an egg that floated that wasn't from a supermarket? if so then you must have finally accepted that floating egg does not = bad egg.

aurynne Spain Tue 07-May-13 02:12:57

I actually use the "shake" test. If you shake an egg and you can feel the yolk moving inside (as in hitting the sides), that egg is so old that the proteins which keep the yolk in the centre have started to denaturalize.

I have eaten eggs which floated in water and were perfectly ok.

But I am a nerdy scientist myself :P

prettybird Tue 07-May-13 08:25:51

I can remember when dates weren't stamped on individual eggs, so you had to use your own judgement (and use things like the float test to work out relative freshness) as to whether eggs were fresh enough to use or not.

IneedAsockamnesty Tue 07-May-13 09:58:24

As I have said several times I am talking about supermarket eggs,I have even said its due to the feed and chemicals used in them.

Most none supermarket eggs would not have these things used so the smell test would be fine.

AmberLeaf Tue 07-May-13 10:37:25

No you said that eggs that float are off.

Even non supermarket eggs will float after a certain time.

Floating bares no relation to their offness wherever they were bought.

IneedAsockamnesty Tue 07-May-13 11:37:26

No I did not. In my post done at about 8 yesterday I clearly stated I was talking about supermarket eggs.

And in my very first post I even mentioned them perhaps being of a generation that had limited understanding of the supermarket process.

AmberLeaf Tue 07-May-13 13:06:28

You said eggs

Give it up sock, seriously.

somedayma Tue 07-May-13 14:02:24

sock and Amber this is hilarious. you're both making arses of yourselves. who cares what some stranger on the Internet thinks of your egg freshness opinions?! :D

AmberLeaf Tue 07-May-13 14:17:20

I'm not making an arse of myself thanks very much! and yes I agree it is hilarious!

I have seen some rows on Mumsnet with posters refusing to back down even though they are clearly wrong, but never about eggs grin

BTW my posts are not opinion

Socks posts are and as I have said already, she is entitled to them.

I have seen sock around loads on Mumsnet and I generally respect her opinions, so I must say, this thread has been a tad bizarre!

I have eggsplained several times, I dont eggactly know what else I can say? My brain is scrambled confused

everlong Tue 07-May-13 14:19:14

I'm a wuss wear out if date food is concerned.

I wouldn't eat eggs over 3 days passed their sell by date.

Join the discussion

Join the discussion


Register now