UP will have expiry dates stamped on eggs from April 1— this is no yoke

Unlike the conundrum over chicken and egg, we can safely assume that egg came before its expiry date - for consumption, that is. Notwithstanding the salience of the date from when the rule becomes effective - April 1 - the UP government has made it mandatory for eggs to come stamped with expiry dates.

Not just cartons but also individual andey. At last, the humble oval has joined the bureaucratic elite. Each omelette will now carry the heft of a passport.

Chickens, once carefree (re)producers, will now face audits. Eggs without dates will - no, not be tagged illegal immigrants but - be destroyed or labelled 'not fit for human consumption'. For, protein's non-permanence must be maintained.


At an ambient temperature of around 30° C, eggs are fit for eating (by humans) for about 2 weeks after they have been laid (by chicken). Stored in temperatures between 2° C and 8° C, they're good for around 5 weeks. But the problem is that UP has a paucity of anda that is thanda.

Ergo, this stamp of appropriate age. We may soon have expiry dates on bananas ('Best before brown'), on politicians ('Ministers till 75'), on WhatsApp forwards ('Best before irrelevance'). Uttar Pradesh sure has cracked open a new frontier: accountability for sunny-side ups, or bhurjis, or boiled. Now to see they stamp gently on those delicate shells. Else, the yoke will be on them.