# Eggs in England **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 29, 2012, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eggs-in-england/642481 "2012-11-29T17:00:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2012, 9:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eggs-in-england/642481/41 "2012-11-30T09:12:32Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > The eggs i had in England had very thick shells, deep orange yolks, and were much tastier than eggs in the US. They were probably free range, which has become pretty much standard in the UK now. Can’t remember the last time I bought eggs from caged hens. We’ve had a mass of adverse publicity about battery farming over the years so free range has become pretty much the norm thanks to customer demand. Some supermarkets no longer sell battery farmed eggs at all (such as Sainsbury’s). Which, presumably, means nicer eggs. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2012, 9:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eggs-in-england/642481/42 "2012-11-30T09:44:17Z")
Hereabouts I’d say it’s 50/50 between them being left out on normal shelves and being refrigerated in stores. ---
**Author:** ![Malden\_Capell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malden_capell/32/5274_2.png) [@Malden\_Capell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malden_Capell)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2012, 10:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eggs-in-england/642481/43 "2012-11-30T10:10:04Z")
Strange thing is, I buy the eggs not refrigerated and when I get home I put them in the fridge. Just out of habit (and the mental connection of dairy = requires refrigration). ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2012, 10:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eggs-in-england/642481/44 "2012-11-30T10:13:34Z")
> [@Malden\_Capell](#): > > Strange thing is, I buy the eggs not refrigerated and when I get home I put them in the fridge. Just out of habit (and the mental connection of dairy = requires refrigration). Me too, force of habit. ---
**Author:** ![MarcusF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/67e7ee/32.png) [@MarcusF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MarcusF)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2012, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eggs-in-england/642481/45 "2012-11-30T12:56:19Z")
> [@Malden\_Capell](#): > > Strange thing is, I buy the eggs not refrigerated and when I get home I put them in the fridge. Just out of habit (and the mental connection of dairy = requires refrigration). Me too. Mostly, I think, because the box of 12 fits neatly on the shelf at the bottom of the fridge. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2012, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eggs-in-england/642481/46 "2012-11-30T13:19:35Z")
Refrigerators are often equipped with inbuilt (or accessory) egg racks in the door shelves - so I suppose it’s expected that we’ll keep them there. I never do because of the disadvantages of cooking chilled eggs (cakes come out heavier and boiled eggs are more likely to crack in the pan) ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2012, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eggs-in-england/642481/47 "2012-11-30T14:02:26Z")
> [@Malden\_Capell](#): > > Strange thing is, I buy the eggs not refrigerated and when I get home I put them in the fridge. Just out of habit (and the mental connection of dairy = requires refrigration). But eggs aren’t dairy products? Anyway, there are two supermarkets in my town and one refrigerates their eggs and the other doesn’t. Kind of shoots down theories about the cooler UK climate being to blame. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2012, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eggs-in-england/642481/48 "2012-11-30T14:09:00Z")
> [@NitroPress](#): > > I have heard that US egg producers wash a waxy preservative layer off of eggs, which increases porosity and reduces their shelf (counter, bowl) life. Eggs certainly do age, whether or not they go “bad” - older eggs can be hard to do certain delicate cooking operations with. Don’t remember any waxy layer on the shell when I was a teen and collected eggs from our chickens on a daily basis. Mostly I washed the eggs because there was shit on them. Not ‘stuff’ shit, but actual chicken shit. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2012, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eggs-in-england/642481/49 "2012-11-30T14:10:01Z")
> [@Eliahna](#): > > But eggs aren’t dairy products? I really hope that’s a joke… ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2012, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eggs-in-england/642481/50 "2012-11-30T14:22:02Z")
> [@sidecar\_jon](#): > > The received information is that eggs cook better and mix better when at room temperature and they keep “long enough” out of the chiller. So my dad maintained who was a chef. Also the porous shell was lass likely to take up “fridge smells” > > A small aside i’m told virtually all eggs sold in USA are white while almost all ours are brown is that true? That’s probably true but brown is fairly common now I think because consumers associate brown with “organic” or “free range” even though egg color has nothing to do with that. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2012, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eggs-in-england/642481/51 "2012-11-30T15:04:16Z")
One of my fondest memories is staying at my aunties farm in upper Weardale and collecting little bantam eggs from pretty much every farmyard niche the little buggers could find and then having them freshly boiled for my breakfast…aaaahhh! happy times. They never lasted long enough to need refrigerating I can tell you. ---
**Author:** ![sandra\_nz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eada6e/32.png) [@sandra\_nz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sandra_nz)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2012, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eggs-in-england/642481/52 "2012-11-30T15:23:25Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > I really hope that’s a joke… Dairy product = contains milk from a mammal. In which way is an egg a dairy product? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2012, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eggs-in-england/642481/53 "2012-11-30T15:27:39Z")
> [@sandra\_nz](#): > > Dairy product = contains milk from a mammal. > > In which way is an egg a dairy product? 😕 They’re a dairy product because you find them in the dairy department in the grocery store next to the milk and yogurt. Duh. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![sandra\_nz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eada6e/32.png) [@sandra\_nz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sandra_nz)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2012, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eggs-in-england/642481/54 "2012-11-30T15:28:49Z")
Not in my grocery store! They are in a whole different aisle! 😛 ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2012, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eggs-in-england/642481/55 "2012-11-30T15:31:21Z")
> [@sandra\_nz](#): > > Dairy product = contains milk from a mammal. > > In which way is an egg a dairy product? 😕 I don’t know if it’s an American thing, but for some weird reason, we do seem to lop in eggs with dairy a lot of the time. I’m not sure why, as at about half the groceries I go to, eggs and real dairy are not near each other. Eggs are most assuredly not dairy, except in some loose colloquial uses of the word. ---
**Author:** ![doorhinge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a5b964/32.png) [@doorhinge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doorhinge)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2012, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eggs-in-england/642481/56 "2012-11-30T15:54:46Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > I really hope that’s a joke… “Dairy products” come from milk-bearing animals. Eggs can be found in the “dairy section” of supermarkets. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2012, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eggs-in-england/642481/57 "2012-11-30T16:03:19Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > I don’t know if it’s an American thing, but for some weird reason, we do seem to lop in eggs with dairy a lot of the time. I’m not sure why, as at about half the groceries I go to, eggs and real dairy are not near each other. Eggs are most assuredly not dairy, except in some loose colloquial uses of the word. Not so fast, there. [Dairy hens.](http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1917&dat=19881223&id=KHghAAAAIBAJ&sjid=hIgFAAAAIBAJ&pg=2921,6211034) ---
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2012, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eggs-in-england/642481/58 "2012-11-30T16:06:02Z")
> [@doorhinge](#): > > “Dairy products” come from milk-bearing animals. > Eggs can be found in the “dairy section” of supermarkets. That’s because the eggs (in America) are kept in the refrigerated section of the supermarket.Which is also where the dairy products are. Ergo, eggs are dairy. See? It’s simple logic. 🙂 Other “facts” that city-slickers know: Eggs are dairy products. Fruit juice is a made in a factory. Cereal is also made in a factory–the word has nothing to do with a category of crops grown by farmers. And there’s an animal called a veal. You’ve seen it on restaurant menus, right? ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2012, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eggs-in-england/642481/59 "2012-11-30T16:10:01Z")
> [@levdrakon](#): > > Not so fast, there. [Dairy hens.](http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1917&dat=19881223&id=KHghAAAAIBAJ&sjid=hIgFAAAAIBAJ&pg=2921,6211034) OK, I need context here. What the hell is that? I mean, I see that it’s tongue-in-cheek (right?), what’s it doing in what appears to be a real newspaper (and not a News of The World type tabloid?) ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2012, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eggs-in-england/642481/60 "2012-11-30T16:18:16Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > OK, I need context here. What the hell is that? I mean, I see that it’s tongue-in-cheek (right?), what’s it doing in what appears to be a real newspaper (and not a News of The World type tabloid?) Beats me. I just googled “dairy hens” or something to see what would come up. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eggs-in-england/642481.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eggs-in-england/642481.md?page=4)