[FelicitaJ]

Assalaamu 'alaykum wa rohmatullaahi wa barokaatuh.

I wonder if you wash the (chicken) egg before cooking ?

[soipguibbom]

You mean the shell? No, there's no need to wash the shell. Obviously, it's not possible to wash the yolk and whites. If you cook the eggs well enough, the heat should take care of any bacteria.

[FelicitaJ]

a friend of mine once told me that when he was doing his practical (university course work) in one of the big biscuit factory in Malaysia, for the factory to apply and obtain the certificate of halal, the factory had to allocate a place for the eggs (ie egg shells) to be washed and cleaned (clean as in urdu "pak" / or in malay "suci") of any najasat. Then the authorities related with the giving the halal certification will send 2 persons, one from the health department and the other from the religious department to inspect the process of making biscuit.

In Malaysia, there are muslim restaurants where one can see the najis (chicken's poo / droppings) sticking on the shell and the restaurant chef touch the shells with his hands and then the hands touches other food / utensils etc. In food health term this is called cross contamination. In Islam this is "na pak" / "tidak suci" / unhygenic according to the shariat...

Any thoughts on that ?

[MexicoCity]

Any thoughts on that ?

Yea, if there is poop on the egg shell then certainly there can be contamination leading to food poisoning. I think if you buy packaged eggs they are already washed, so no issues.

[gunhijala]

Silat, as NNoor said. The heat should be enough so as to be killing off any bacteria, otherwise you're simply not a very good cook.

Who eats the eggshells anyway? The outside of the eggshell wouldn't be touching the egg white or egg yolk anyhow.

[MexicoCity]

Who eats the eggshells anyway? The outside of the eggshell wouldn't be touching the egg white or egg yolk anyhow.

Bro the issue is not the egg white being contaminated, the problem is the hand touching the (poop coated) shell gets contaminated and if the hands are not thoroughly washed it will contaminate the next thing it touches in the kitchen.

If the shell is clean, or the hands are washed properly after handling dirty shells then there is no issue.

[FelicitaJ]

My concern is with the egg shell. If there's the poo on the shell, the poo is najis. For najasah matter, does that need cleaning according to shariah ?

[Vmysobfi]

I know of someone who washes all their eggs with dishwashing liquid before putting them in the fridge, coz it comes out from you know where.

[Les Allen]

this must be the funniest thread on the forum.

[FelicitaJ]

I know of someone who washes all their eggs with dishwashing liquid before putting them in the fridge, coz it comes out from you know where.

Ive heard that washing the eggs and keeping them (rather than use the eggs) is not advisable as it shortens the shelf life of the eggs.
Dont know if that is true or not though...

[soipguibbom]

Two issues here, the najasah and the bacterial contamination.

If the najasah is apparent on the eggshell, then you definitely need to wash it off first, to avoid having it get into the food and be eaten by people.

If nothing apparent, then you can assume it's clean. Most packaged eggs don't have any filth on them.

By the way, I was taught that in the Hanafi mazhab, the excrement of halal birds is not najis. I don't know what is the case for Shafiis. Obviously, you still want to prevent it from getting into food.

I hope a scholar here can confirm the above statements.

As for the bacteria, I should have mentioned earlier, even if there is no apparent filth on the eggshell, I still always wash my hands after handling eggs, in order to avoid contaminating other surfaces with bacteria.

[nuabuncarnigo]

a friend of mine once told me that when he was doing his practical (university course work) in one of the big biscuit factory in Malaysia, for the factory to apply and obtain the certificate of halal, the factory had to allocate a place for the eggs (ie egg shells) to be washed and cleaned (clean as in urdu "pak" / or in malay "suci") of any najasat. Then the authorities related with the giving the halal certification will send 2 persons, one from the health department and the other from the religious department to inspect the process of making biscuit.

In Malaysia, there are muslim restaurants where one can see the najis (chicken's poo / droppings) sticking on the shell and the restaurant chef touch the shells with his hands and then the hands touches other food / utensils etc. In food health term this is called cross contamination. In Islam this is "na pak" / "tidak suci" / unhygenic according to the shariat...

Any thoughts on that ?

Malaysia has very strict "Halal Regulations" as I know.

By the way, I was taught that in the Hanafi mazhab, the excrement of halal birds is not najis. I don't know what is the case for Shafiis. Obviously, you still want to prevent it from getting into food.

[FelicitaJ]

Malaysia has very strict "Halal Regulations" as I know.

I used to hear people (in Malaysia) doubting the Halal certificates by the halal authority in Malaysia. But after hearing my friend's personal story above, I now shove aside my doubts.
(btw, my friend is now a lecturer in a local university in Malaysia. He's speciality is in food technology and he did his doctorate in UK few years back)

However, there are still areas that can (need to) be improved on, especially the enforcement.


One interesting thing is that when we (jamaat people in malaysia) do khidmat in khuruj in Malaysia, the khidmat sathi would wash clean the egg shells before doing anything with the eggs.
Also, in shafi'e, washing the eggs is first we have to remove the najis (najasah/impurities) so that there is no visible sign of any najis. After that have to cleanse it with clean running (flowing) water.
Also, in shafi'e, bird's excrement (including chicken) is considered najis mutawassitah.

wallaahu a'lam.