An Egg's Expiration Date May Not Mean the End of Your Egg's Lifespan (2024)

You're all ready to make an omelet or your favorite cake recipe, but you're not sure just how long those eggs you're about to cook have been in the fridge. A week? A month? Three months? Who can say...

Should you dash to the store, change your cooking plans, or go ahead and cook with the eggs? And what about the date—or dates!—on the package?

Is It Okay To Eat Eggs Past the Date on the Carton?

Cartons of eggs can have several different dates on them, including a sell-by date, a use-by date, an expiration date, and a packing date. If the dates on the package have passed, that does not necessarily mean the eggs are no longer safe to eat— if stored properly, they should be good for three to five weeks after you placed them in the refrigerator, according to the USDA.

So the short answer is that it can indeed be safe to eat eggs past the expiration date on the carton. But the longer answer is that it's a bit more complicated than that. Read on to find out how to determine if your eggs are still edible.

Perform a Float Test

One way to tell if your eggs are still good to use is to float-test them in water. For this test, pull out however many eggs you are planning to use (do not float test eggs and then put them back in the carton since storing eggs after getting them wet can make them more susceptible to spoilage). Next, fill a bowl or glass with cold waterand place an egg in it.

Look at where the egg is sitting in the water:

• If the egg sinks to the bottom - it's likely fresh and perfectly fine to cook with and eat.
• If the egg sinks to the bottom but stands on its point - it's still good but is getting old and should be used soon.
• If the egg floats to the top - this is an indication that it is old and possibly no longer safe to eat.

However, just because an egg is old doesn't mean it's necessarily spoiled, according to the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service. If you are wary about using old eggs, you may want to toss them if they fail the float test. Otherwise, move on to the next test—using your nose.

Use Your Nose

Your next line of defense against bad eggs is your nose. Assuming the egg smells okay while still in the shell, crack it into a bowl—never straight into whatever you're making since a bad egg could ruin the whole recipe. If the egg smells rotten or bad when you crack it open, it's time to toss it and move on to plan B for your meal.

Use Your Eyes

If the egg smells okay, inspect it visually. While blood spots in eggs do not indicate they're unsafe, a pink or iridescent egg white is a sign of spoilage, according to the USDA. Do not eat eggs that have these visual signs of spoilage, even if they passed the float test and sniff test.

Check the Packing Date, Not the Expiration Date, Use-By Date, or Sell-By Date

The float test, sniff test, and visual test are all great ways to check eggs once you've brought them home, but checking the packing date is something you can do while you're still at the store to up your chances of having fresh eggs on hand.

• What is the packing date? When it comes to whether it's safe to eat eggs, the most important date on the carton of eggs is the packing date. TheU.S. Department of Agriculturerequires all graded eggs to have theirpack date—the day that the eggs were washed, graded and placed in the egg container—stamped on the carton.
• How long past the packing date do eggs last? One way to determine a reasonable use-by date for your eggs is to count four to five weeks out from the date that the eggs were cleaned and packaged. Properly stored eggs should be safe at least this long. Though, of course, if there are other signs of spoilage, do not use the eggs.
• How do I find the packing date? You'll usually find it on one of the ends of the carton, near the sell-by date or expiration date. It's listed as a Julian date, so it'll be athree-digit number. Jan. 1 would be listed as 001 and Dec. 31 would be 365.To complicate matters, the pack date may be tacked onto the beginning or end of the plant number. Just look for the three-digit number in the sequenceand you have your pack date. The good news is that there are Julian date converters available online.

What About Cooked Eggs?

TheFDA has specific rules for storing cooked eggs, including the following. But just like with raw eggs, if you notice any off colors or odors in your cooked eggs, throw them away.

• Use hard-cooked eggs (in the shell or peeled) within one week after cooking.
• Refrigerate leftover cooked egg dishes and use them within three to four days.
• If you are refrigerating a large amount of hot leftovers containing eggs, divide the dish into several shallow containers so it will cool quickly.