My girlfriend made fried eggs for breakfast, and as I watched her cook, I noticed something that immediately seemed strange to me. She took the eggs straight from the carton, cracked them into the pan, and threw the shells away without rinsing them first. I mentioned that my mother had always washed eggs before cooking, and I genuinely believed that was the safer way to prepare them.

She disagreed immediately. She told me she had cooked eggs that way her entire life and had never been told that washing them first was necessary. What began as a simple breakfast conversation quickly became an argument because both of us were convinced that the habit we had grown up with was the correct one.

The surprising answer is that commercially sold eggs generally do not need to be washed at home before they are cracked. In places such as the United States, eggs sold commercially are already washed and sanitized during processing. Washing them again in the kitchen isn’t considered a necessary food-safety step.

In fact, careless washing can create another problem. Water splashing from an eggshell can spread bacteria onto hands, countertops, utensils, or nearby food. The more important precautions are keeping refrigerated eggs properly chilled, avoiding cracked or badly damaged eggs, washing your hands after handling shells, and cooking eggs adequately.

So my girlfriend hadn’t skipped an essential step after all. My mother’s habit wasn’t unusual, but it wasn’t something everyone needed to copy. I finally admitted that the argument had started because I had mistaken a family routine for a universal cooking rule—and breakfast became considerably more peaceful after that.