After purchase, eggs should be stored in the refrigerator. They are susceptible to temperature changes and therefore it is advisable to leave them in the sales packaging and place them at the bottom of the fridge, where they will be kept at a constant temperature.

The code printed on the egg indicates the origin and provenance. To understand how to interpret it, we invite you to visit the “How to know the origin of an egg?” section of this site.

For a clearer view on breeding systems, you can consult the “What are the main types of farming” section of this site.

When you buy a pack of “Eggs of various sizes”, it means that inside you will not find, for example, only M eggs or only L eggs, but eggs that can be of size S, M, L or XL. By law, packs of eggs of various sizes must have a guaranteed minimum net weight.

European legislation sets the shelf life of eggs at 28 days, expressed as a minimum shelf life and that is indicated with the words “best before”. Throughout the European Union, Class A eggs must be withdrawn from the market 7 days before the minimum shelf life, i.e. 21 days after laying. This standard aims to ensure that the consumer has at least 7 days of domestic storage available.

A first apparently elementary but reliable way to check the freshness of eggs is based on the principle that the older an egg is, the more air it will have inside and therefore it also tends to float more easily. To check the freshness of the eggs, simply immerse them in water: if the egg sinks and remains on the bottom, it is very fresh, if it floats, it is better not to eat it. Once opened, it is possible to observe yolk and egg whites. The more compact and convex the yolk is, the fresher it will be, while the colour of the yolk does count, as it depends exclusively on the hen’s feed. The egg white, on the other hand, must be transparent, dense and well attached to the yolk. If you shake the egg slightly and do not feel any movement it is a great sign because it means that the egg white is still well attached to the yolk.

According to the Healthy Diet Guidelines developed by the CREA (Council for Agricultural Research and Analysis of the Agricultural Economy), eggs are among the main foods constituting a balanced diet. Thanks to the presence of numerous nutrients and microelements, versatility in the kitchen and low cost, they represent a complete and genuine element within a healthy and varied diet.

A study published in January 2020*, carried out on three large previous studies involving around 177,000 people from 50 countries, 146,000 of whom are healthy and 31,000 with cardiovascular disease, showed that eating one egg a day has no impact on blood cholesterol levels, the incidence of serious cardiovascular events such as heart attacks and mortality.

What can make the difference for cardiovascular risk purposes is the simultaneous intake of cholesterol and saturated fats, a particular category of fats present, for example, in butter and meat, which can amplify the atherogenic risk. Saturated fats are present in no more than 30% of the egg. The Guidelines, taking into account that the egg is also present as an ingredient in many industrial products and preparations, currently recommend, even in the presence of hypercholesterolaemia, a weekly consumption of 2-4 eggs, without forgetting that you can also use only egg white, as it is cholesterol-free.

Association of egg intake with blood lipids, cardiovascular disease, and mortality in 177,000 people in 50 countries”. (The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 2020 Jan)

The lighter cooking methods are obviously those that do not involve the addition of fats but soft-boiling eggs allows a better and faster digestibility (1 hour and 45 minutes against the three hours of the hard-boiled or fried egg). The yolk, in itself, is more digestible when consumed in the semi-liquid state, while the egg white must be cooked well due to the presence of an anti-nutritional factor, avidin, which binds biotin (vitamin H). In addition, the albumin present in the egg becomes digestible only by cooking at 70°C which, in any case, preserves the other proteins from denaturation.

Like many other raw foods, raw egg can be a source of pathogenic microorganisms, with possible effects on consumers’ health. When using raw eggs, even if you are sure that they are fresh, it is always better to pasteurise them. Pasteurisation, in fact, is the most effective method to avoid the risk of infections caused by bacteria (such as salmonella) without losing organoleptic and nutritional properties.

This process requires a kitchen thermometer to measure the temperature of the liquid with which the bacterial killing process is carried out. This temperature, in fact, must be strictly 121°C in order to inactivate the bacteria without cooking the food.
From a sanitary point of view, the consumption of raw eggs remains a practice that should be avoided, as it can pose a high risk, especially for children, the elderly and all those with reduced immune competence. However, our le Naturelle Vita Egg White, thanks to the presence of vitamin H, can be eaten raw.