Jerusalem, 10 July, 2025 (TPS-IL) — As part of a surprise inspection conducted in Moshav Barak, in the north of Israel, agriculture inspectors caught a poultry farmer red-handed washing eggs in violation of guidelines, endangering public health. Approximately 9,000 eggs that could have reached the public and spread diseases were confiscated.
A permanent washing facility was also seized at the site, which the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security said raises the suspicion that this is a routine phenomenon that takes place on the farm and was hidden from the ministry’s inspectors.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Food Safety clarifies that dirty eggs are prohibited from being marketed as table eggs by law, due to the danger of contaminants entering the egg. Washing dirty eggs, which is supposedly done to give the egg a clean appearance before marketing, is a practice that endangers public health. Because the egg shell is not airtight (“a breathable shell”), various contaminants and bacteria may enter the egg during washing. Some of the bacteria will cause the egg to spoil, while some do not cause a change that can be detected during the examination at the sorting institute, such as salmonella, but create a disease that is dangerous to public health. Consequently, eggs washed with contaminants may reach the consumer and endanger his health.