Can You Eat Expired Eggs?

Eggs are a staple of many people’s diets. Not only are they a source of vitamin A and folate (vitamin B-9, important in healthy cell growth), but they’re also high in protein. Maybe your family enjoys scrambled eggs during the week and omelets for brunch on Sunday. If you bake, chances are you always have a carton of eggs in the fridge. 

The incredibly versatile egg can be the star of the plate or it can act as a delicious extra (you can always just put an egg on it!), but sometimes life gets busy and by the time you go to use the last of the eggs, you notice that it’s past the expiration date stated on the carton. With the help of an expert, we break down what exactly this date means and whether the eggs are safe to eat. 

Is It Ok To Eat Expired Eggs?

Benjamin Chapman, a professor and food safety specialist at North Carolina State University’s Department of Agriculture and Human Sciences, says expiration dates are actually the sell-by dates and “not related to the safety of the egg whatsoever.”

After the expiration date has passed, you can expect the eggs to lose “peak quality based on shelf-life studies and consumer test preferences,” adds Chapman.

Chapman says that the sell-by dates listed on egg containers are very similar to sell-by dates placed on milk products—the purpose essentially is to give consumers the best quality item. 

What Does The Expiration Date On A Carton Of Eggs Mean?

Chapman explains that the expiration date is really the sell-by date—or, the date in which the eggs should leave the grocery store shelf before quality starts to decline. 

But “there’s no magic time frame after the sell-by date,” says Chapman, who notes that egg producers and researchers typically say 4-5 weeks if held refrigerated below 41F. 

“For instance, the eggs I have in my fridge have a sell-by date of May 18, I’d expect the quality to be relatively the same today as it would be at the start of June (which is a long time, and my dozen eggs won’t last that long),” says Chapman. Eggs stored at room temperature, however, will decline at a much faster rate. 

How To Tell If Your Eggs Have Gone Bad

While you can safely enjoy eggs well beyond the date listed on the carton—they “don’t get less safe over time if they are refrigerated,” says Chapman—there is the possibility of salmonella enteriditis, which is contamination that happens inside the egg, meaning there’s nothing you can do in terms of storage and consumption that will be able to prevent this. It’s not a common occurrence, fortunately: “Based on best available data, we’d expect to see SE in 1 in 10,000 to 1 in 20,000 eggs,” says Chapman.

But while older eggs, even those past the date on the carton, may suffer from diminished quality (smell and taste not so great), they are OK to eat or use in baking. “When the egg gets old, the yolk or the white of the egg may not hold its form and be runnier than expected,” explains Chapman. However, this isn’t a matter of safety but of quality. 

For best results with your sunny-side up or poached eggs—really, any place where the egg is a substantive part of the meal—reach for the freshest eggs possible. But if you go out of town or forget about a carton lingering in the back of your fridge, know that these are perfectly fine in your next batch of chocolate chip cookies or pancakes.