Inside the thriving business of cracked eggs

Mohahammad Abdul Jalil runs a wholesale egg store in the capital's Khilkhet area. At least 3,000 eggs are sold every day. 

While the whole eggs are sold to retail shop owners, the cracked ones are sought by local bakeries, restaurants, roadside food stalls and sometimes even regular people.  

And not just ones with slight cracks, completely broken eggs are sold too, at a much lower price. 

Last week, Jalil sold the good eggs at Tk11 per piece at a wholesale rate, and the slightly cracked eggs at Tk9 to 9.50 per piece, while the broken ones were priced at Tk5. 

The price fluctuates according to the market, but the 'faulty' eggs are always sold at a lower price than the whole eggs. 

According to Jalil, Osman, Sabbir and 12 other wholesale egg sellers, it is normal for some eggs to crack or break during different stages of transportation. Every day, they deal with an average of 350-500 cracked eggs. 

The slightly cracked eggs and the completely broken ones are kept separately.  

Even a few weeks ago, there was not much demand for these eggs. At the end of the day's sale, most of them were thrown away by the sellers or donated to the poor. 

"Sometimes we even donate the eggs for free. If kept for long, they will rot. It is better to donate; at least some people can eat them," Jalil said.  

However, recently, the price of chicken and duck eggs has increased a lot. As a result, the demand for broken eggs has increased among low-income consumers. Instead of giving them away for free, the sellers have put a relatively low price on them.  

Last week, Saber Mia sold normal, whole eggs at Tk10 per piece and cracked ones at Tk8.40 from his small shop at Khilgaon Rail Gate Bazar. 

According to him, there is a huge demand for these from nearby 'bhaater hotels' (rice and curry eateries) and bakeries. 

"Sometimes, poor women come with plastic bowls and I drop the completely broken eggs in them. Often people take two to three trays (30 eggs per tray) of cracked eggs from me," he told us. 

Who really buys these cracked eggs?

Mohammad Osman Goni runs a wholesale egg business in Khilgaon, where he also owns a baking factory. According to the chef of the bakery, Md Helal, every day, they produce almost 3,000 muffins and 300-350 pound cakes. 

To produce this many items, the bakery requires 600 to 750 eggs per day, all of which come from Osman's egg shop. We checked a bill from 13 May, which showed that 650 eggs were purchased at Tk 6,780. So, per egg cost Tk11.30. 

"We also send the completely broken eggs to the bakery because they have more liquid content and it is better for baking," Osman Goni informed us.

Generally, storing eggs in high temperatures and low humidity speeds up the aging process and causes the egg whites (also known as the albumen) to become watery. 

That is why cracked eggs are more watery than the intact ones, as they are exposed to temperature and humidity.

The reason Osman's bakery prefers adding the watery eggs to the cake batter is they can reduce the liquid ingredient by a tablespoon for each egg in the recipe, which eventually helps in cost cutting.

Arif Hasan sometimes buys cracked eggs from Saber Mia's shop. He has a roadside food cart where he sells noodles, egg chops etc. 

"I can't always get these eggs; sometimes I have to ask him [Saber Mia] to keep some for me. I need a lot of eggs for the noodles and egg chops that I sell, especially on Fridays and Saturdays," he said. 

With the price hike in the egg market, it's getting harder for him to keep up. So, he prefers buying the cracked eggs, which are eventually fried and then added to the noodles. 

But is it good to use broken eggs for cooking? 

"No worries madam, the temperature will kill all the germs!" said the optimistic man.   

Can cracked eggs 'crack' your stomach? 

According to international standards, eggs with good, intact shells have a shelf life of at least three weeks. When the temperature is normal without fluctuations, eggs with a good shell can stay unaffected for up to five weeks. 

But eggs with broken shells have a mere two-hour shelf life, after which they become rotten, even resulting in black spots on the shells (pseudomonas) in the worst case.

According to Health Canada, while eggs are usually safe when they are laid, they can sometimes be contaminated with salmonella or other bacteria that can cause food poisoning, even if they look clean. 

While most bacteria including salmonella are found on the shell itself, salmonella can sometimes get inside an egg, or it can already be inside an egg when it is laid. 

We spoke with Md Mizanur Rahman, Director (Consumer Risk and Safe Food Management) of Bangladesh Food Safety Authority (BFSA) regarding whether the use and sale of cracked eggs is allowed in Bangladesh. 

He said, "Eggs with a cracked surface can be contaminated by salmonella and other bacteria, which can cause food poisoning if consumed. We highly discourage people from consuming these eggs. And it is not permissible to sell these in the shops as well". 

The USA Food and Drug Administration (FDA) explains that most people infected with salmonella develop diarrhea, fever, abdominal cramps, and vomiting 12 to 72 hours after being infected. Symptoms usually last four to seven days and most people get better without treatment. 

However, in some people, the diarrhea may be so severe that they need to be hospitalised. In these patients, the salmonella infection may spread from the intestines to the bloodstream, and then to other body sites and eventually, cause death, unless the person is quickly treated with antibiotics. 

An National Institute of Health (NIH) article states that heat kills salmonella and other bacteria in eggs. 

The report says, "Boiling for seven minutes was necessary for the complete destruction of salmonella typhimurium, and it took 12 minutes of boiling to destroy staphylococcus aureus."

The cooking time-temperature relationship for completely killing germs depended on the cooking method, according to the tests mentioned in the report.  

Four minutes and 70°C were needed for covered eggs, three minutes on each side at 64°C for turned over eggs; while cooking sunny side up eggs for 7.5 minutes at 64°C turned out to be sufficient for destruction of the germs. 

So, eggs can be used if they are completely cooked, boiled, or baked to a degree that ensures the internal temperature is well past the crucial temperature for killing salmonella. 

"But if the eggs are completely broken, or you are not sure of the time they cracked, it is better to avoid them," Mizanur Rahman said. 

How to store eggs if you accidentally break them

If you are buying eggs from the store, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) recommends not to buy the cracked ones. 

FDA recommends buying eggs only if they are sold from a refrigerator or a refrigerated case. And before buying them, open the carton and make sure that the eggs are clean and the shells are not cracked.

However, if you accidentally crack one, the USDA instructs, "Bacteria can enter eggs through cracks in the shell. Never purchase cracked eggs. However, if eggs crack on the way home from the store, break them into a clean container, cover tightly, keep refrigerated, and use within two days. If eggs crack during hard cooking, they are safe."