Debate Settled! Is It Safe to Eat an Egg If It Cracked in the Carton?

As a mom, I rarely have the luxury of grocery shopping by myself. Instead, I almost always have one or two kids doing laps around the shopping cart and asking me to open snacks I have yet to pay for—all while I’m feeling avocados to try to find some that are ripe enough to eat that night. So naturally, I sometimes forget to open the egg carton to check for cracked shells as I’m cruising down the dairy aisle.

Which has led me to wonder: Do I really need to throw away eggs that are already cracked before I bring them home? And how about eggs that accidentally break on the way home? I mean, it’s not like I’m going to eat them raw—they’re going to get cooked. I would hate to throw them out if I didn’t have to, both because eggs are so darn expensive these days and because chucking a few would require me to head back to the grocery store sooner than I want to. That said, I also don’t want to accidentally poison my entire family.

So what’s safe, and what’s not? To get the answer, I spoke with Martin Bucknavage, a retired food-safety specialist. Read on to find out if it’s safe to eat an egg that has cracked in the carton—or if you really need to toss it.

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How clean are eggs in a carton?

Pretty clean! And that’s because eggs are cleaned before they’re put in the carton. “There is a common practice that involves a wash with an alkaline solution, a light scrub, a sanitizing rinse and then drying them with forced air,” Bucknavage explains.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), this washing procedure is required before the USDA can give the eggs a grade, which is that “USDA Grade A” or “Grade AA” you’ll see on most egg cartons in grocery stores. It’s also the reason why you don’t need to (and really shouldn’t) wash eggs at home before you use them, as repeatedly wetting the shells can make them porous enough for bacteria to sneak through.

Still, the cleanliness of the shell is not necessarily the concern when it comes to cracks.

Is it safe to eat a cracked egg?

No, it’s not. “The shell is the protective package, so any crack that has occurred opens the opportunity for pathogens or spoilage bacteria to enter,” Bucknavage says. In other words, the shell is keeping the bad guys out. The second it opens, they can start getting in. (More below on that.)

But there must be a little flexibility here, right? Like, a hairline crack you can barely see follows different rules than a full shell cave-in? Nope! Any crack or break, no matter how big or small, creates an opening that bacteria can sneak through, according to Bucknavage.

That said, there is some flexibility when it comes to the timing of the crack. Say you check your carton in the store and your eggs are crack-free, but then the milk falls on top of them in the car and one egg is cracked by the time you get home. “If it cracks on the way home from the store or once at home, it can be used immediately or transferred to a clean container with a seal,” says Bucknavage. The key here is limiting the amount of time the egg spends in the cracked shell. “We do not want to hold that cracked egg as is for any length of time,” Bucknavage explains, “because that crack will allow bacteria to enter and grow.”

What’s the maximum amount of time that’s OK to use an egg after it’s cracked?

According to Bucknavage, if you cook an egg or transfer it to a clean, airtight container within a few hours of the shell cracking, it should be safe to eat or use at a later date. Just keep in mind that you’re on the clock: You can use a cracked egg only for up to two days before it’s no longer advisable.

Again, this is only for shells that you break, not ones you find in the grocery store that way. That’s because there’s no way to tell when they were broken.

What kind of bacteria can contaminate the egg?

An eggshell may have a wide array of bacteria—some totally harmless and some potentially dangerous—colonizing it. There are bacteria living inside the hen, others in the nest or on the farm, others in the packaging and processing portions of the egg’s journey, and still others in the grocery store. In other words, the shell is super important for keeping all this bacteria from getting into the part of the egg that you eat.

The one people tend to worry about the most is salmonella, which research has shown can survive on the surface of an egg for as many as 54 days! If salmonella gets inside the egg and then into your body, it can cause a host of unpleasant digestive symptoms, per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In rare cases, it could lead to extreme illness or even death.

In addition to salmonella, eggshells occasionally play host to other types of bacteria that can make you sick, such as E. coli, staphylococcus, enterococcus, and enterobacteriaceae, according to one study.

It’s a lot to worry about, we know. However, the key to remember in all of these cases is that the biological role of the shell is to protect the egg within from contamination. As long as the shell is intact, it’s going to do this job.

Will cooking the egg kill the bacteria?

It depends on how you cook it and how much bacteria is present. “In general, you want to cook eggs until the whites and yolks are firm, or cook them in a baked dish to 165 degrees Fahrenheit or higher,” Bucknavage explains. “The problem is that many people like to cook eggs so the yolks are runny. This is fine if no pathogens are present, but cooking like this will not eliminate pathogens, especially if the number of organisms is high.”

So if your egg just cracked and you want to use it, try scrambling it, hard-boiling it or using it in a baking recipe. Save the frying for those that haven’t cracked.

If the egg has been cracked for longer than the few hours mentioned above, you’re better off tossing it. Why? The longer it spends cracked, the more bacteria can enter the egg. And the more bacteria there are present, the harder it is to kill them all off during cooking, even at a high temperature.

Plus, Bucknavage adds, bacteria can enter a cracked egg and spoil it. And while cooking and eating it won’t make you sick, a spoiled egg just isn’t going to taste very good. Case closed!

Sources:

• Martin Bucknavage, retired food-safety specialist; email interview, Oct. 22, 2026
• U.S. Department of Agriculture: “How We Store Our Eggs—And Why”
• Food Control: “Survival of inoculated Salmonella on the shell of hens’ eggs and its potential significance”
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: “Symptoms of Salmonella Infection”
• Journal of Applied Poultry Research: “Free-range and organic farming: Eggshell contamination by mesophilic bacteria and unusual pathogens”

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