I've noticed some supermarkets now selling eggs in cartons of 4 rather than 6.

It's in the right direction for those of us in single households. I almost never finish off all 6 eggs before the use by date (and I don't go over that having had a nasty experience in 2008) and you're advised not too eat too many in a week anyway.

Why don't they offer them singly or in twos anyway? I'm sure you probably can at farmers' markets and the like and it would probably go down well with customers, so I'm not sure why they randomly settle on 6 most of the time.

Can anyone explain or sympathise?

G

OK I'm bumping this as I'm sure someone can explain such a basic error with a such a basic item.

Surely?

G

Why do you think it is an error?

The clue is in the word 'Supermarkets' - who force their suppliers to sell their products to them at the lowest possible price.

This means eggs are packed by highly automated packing lines which are usually set up to pack in 6's or 12's.

- adding any variation to these standard sizes would increase the cost of production.

'Lion' brand eggs have a shelf life of 27 days from when they are laid, if stored properly, which usually equates to 25 days from packing - one egg every 4 days to eat 6 eggs - not really excessive consumption?

Yeah, but you're not forced to get fruit and veg in sixes, and you get several sizes of milk container, even in supermarkets.

G

Would you like to suggest a way of selling 'loose' eggs, the same way as fruit & veg?

As for milk, the filling machinery is designed to be adjustable to fill different bottles & is no-where near as complex as egg packing machinery ...

Wasn't this dispelled recently?


Taken from:
http://www.eatwell.gov.uk/healthydie...ndpulses/eggs/

I thought it would be something to do with baking from olden times as to why they are in 6s or 12's I get 6s and if its getting close to the date either bake a cake or make omlettes for dinner. or maybe egg mayo for lunch

"I almost never finish off all 6 eggs before the use by date"

Another one who goes by sell by dates.

Do the old float test.

I've seen single eggs sold in Polish shops.

The four-packs of eggs I've seen in the shops seem to cost almost as much as six. Two-packs wouldn't be cheap on a cost per egg basis I suspect.


I buy them in twelves, even though I only feed me and mother. Get the ones with the furthest use-by dates on. They are perfectly good for frying/poaching for a few days afterwards. Then when well past use-by date they can be hard boiled or used in cooking.

3 in an omlette
3 in scrambled eggs
3 in egg mayo sandwiches
3 in a cake

easily do that in 2 weeks

I would prefer to be able to buy fewer eggs, too. I just don't eat that many eggs, even if it's 'easy' to use them up.

Wonder if this is part of some reducing food waste thing.

It takes eggs around three weeks to go off. So if you only buy six, you have to eat only two a week. I eat 2-4 a day.

Except I specifically said 'use by'.

G

Use by sell by all the same thing. I never bother with them.

You know when they are off.

They dont have these dates if you bought them from a farm.

I don't think I've ever seen a "use by" date on eggs. The ones I buy say "best before", and I routinely exceed that by a few weeks. Leave them too long and the yolks get a bit gloopy, but I think if an egg is going to go off, it's usually because the shell has been damaged - and that could happen even within the "best before" date.

I live alone but I buy eggs in trays of thirty - and I'm slim too. A pack of four would be no use to me because I'd use them all within a day or two. A tray of thirty costs £2.50 in my local Asda, which is 8.3 pence per egg.

Yeh but my toast will be cold by the time I get back!

I went past the date on three eggs by one day just before Christmas 2008 and lived to regret it. Suffice to say you don't want to know any further details, but I've been ultra-careful since.

G

Powerful aversion therapy, no doubt - but realistically, if you were that ill so soon after "the date", and the eggs were the cause, there must have already been something wrong with them. Even with foods where the date really matters (and I maintain that it doesn't for eggs, except that the eating quality deteriorates with time) there would be a built-in safety margin greater than that.

Wow, I completely ignore the best before date. I keep them in the bottom of the fridge (that's the coldest part) and I'll happily eat them even when they're weeks past the date, although it's only rarely that I keep them for that long. And I don't do the float test either because I can never remember if they're supposed to sink or swim.

I think they're supposed to sink aren't they?

G

I reckon there's a marketing opportunity here for a tiny egg-ducking stool, modelled on the one formerly used to detect witches. It would have a pointer to tell you if the egg is in league with the devil.

I was just thinking about that and yes, that would be right because when I boil eggs they always sink, so that must be what a good egg should do, and that's an easy way to remember it.

Personally I would really like to be able to buy eggs in pairs or fours. I hardly ever use eggs as I don't like the taste of egg by itself, but sometimes I need them for pancakes or cakes or other things like that, and so it can be a real struggle to think up a way to use up the remaining 4 or 5 eggs. I'd much rather be able to buy just what I needed even if it wasn't as good value for money as buying a pack of 6 or 12.