Value Village ／ Food & living
This answer is a draft. It stays unpublished until legal review and source verification are complete.
Whether eggs belong in the fridge is handled very differently from country to country. Japan is one of the few places where eggs are routinely eaten raw — over rice, in sukiyaki, as a topping — and its date labelling is designed on that assumption. If you have just arrived, the date on a Japanese egg carton does not mean what it means at home.
Following the 1999 (Heisei 11) revision of the enforcement regulations of the Food Sanitation Act (Japan's food-safety law), the best-before date on shell eggs shows the period in which the egg can be eaten raw without problems even if Salmonella happens to be present, assuming refrigerated storage at home (10°C or below).
The reasoning is that the iron Salmonella needs in order to multiply exists only in the yolk. The date is therefore calculated, using a formula relating days to temperature, from the period until the yolk membrane weakens with age and iron passes into the white. A 2024 document from the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) gives the upper limit for raw consumption as 21 days from laying (including 7 days in the household fridge).
[Verify] The year the system was introduced and the 21-day ceiling are based on materials from an industry body (the Japan Poultry Association) and from MAFF. Check against the original texts before publication.
The door changes temperature every time it is opened and closed. A place that stays steadily at 10°C or below is better suited.
Washing the shell can remove the film that protects it. Store them unwashed.
The date is set on the basis of safety for eating raw. Even so, follow the label, and if anything at all seems wrong, do not eat it.
The assumptions above are specific to how eggs are distributed in Japan. Do not handle eggs the same way abroad.
Once cracked, eggs spoil quickly. Use them up the same day.
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https://www.maff.go.jp/j/chikusan/keiei/
https://www.jz-tamago.co.jp/wp/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/E05_3_m_1.pdf
https://www.mhlw.go.jp/topics/bukyoku/iyaku/syoku-anzen/dl/pamph01_05.pdf
⚠️ Editorial note: the source URLs above were identified by search. Our working environment cannot reach go.jp domains, so the contents have not been checked against the text. Verify every source before publication and record who checked it and when.
What we share here are ideas and everyday practices passed down among people living in Japan, together with general information drawn from public sources. They are not official recommendations, and they are not professional instruction. Practices vary between households and regions.
This is general information. Results vary from person to person and depend on your own conditions and surroundings.
Please decide for yourself, using your own judgement, whether any of this suits your situation. We cannot accept responsibility for any damage, loss or injury arising from following this article.
Some ingredients need thorough cooking. Eat raw only foods that are sold for raw consumption. If you have allergies, check the ingredients.
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