Grade

The three USDA grades for acceptable shell eggs are U.S. Grades AA, A, and B. Canada has two acceptable grades, A and B. Quality grades do not reflect product safety or nutritional quality, and Grade B eggs, stored properly, are safe to eat and will have the same nutritional quality as higher-grade eggs.

Usually, USDA-graded eggs are washed, packed, and graded within a day to a week of being laid, but they can be legally graded for up to 30 days. They must be labeled with the date that they were packed and graded; often they will also have a sell-by or expiration date. The pack date must be displayed as the Julian date, where the number 001 represents January 1 and the number 365 represents December 31. The sell-by date is defined as no more than 45 days from the time the eggs are packed and graded. This means that USDA-graded eggs can theoretically be sold for more than two months after they are laid, although most will be sold within days of being packed. Certain states in the United States also regulate the grading and labeling of shell eggs for those packers who do not take part in the USDA’s voluntary grading program.