Key points

• Rice starts absorbing water before it boils, so bacteria from eggshells can be taken up before heat kills them.
• Washing eggs does not reliably remove contaminants that come from poultry droppings, experts say.
• Cracked shells can also leak into the rice, altering its taste, smell and appearance.

Registered dietitian-nutritionists are urging Nigerians to stop boiling eggs and rice together in the same pot, warning that the time and gas saved are not worth the risk of foodborne infection.

The habit is common in Nigerian kitchens, where a few eggs dropped into a pot of rice cuts cooking time, water, utensils and fuel.

However, experts told PUNCH Healthwise that bacteria such as Salmonella and E. coli can sit on eggshells and pass into the rice as it cooks, even after the eggs have been washed.

The warning follows a viral thread on X in which users described falling ill after eating meals prepared this way.

How the contamination happens

James Oloyede, a registered dietitian-nutritionist and former director of nutrition services at the Osun State Primary Health Care Development Board, said the danger lies in the minutes before the water boils. Rice begins absorbing water the moment it goes into the pot, and it swells as the water warms.

If Salmonella from an eggshell is in that water, the grains can take up the bacteria before the temperature is high enough to kill it.

“When the rice is absorbing water, then the bacteria can also be absorbed together with the water and can remain throughout the process of the boiling,” he said.

In addition, eggshells often crack during cooking. When that happens in a pot of rice, egg white spreads through the grains and changes the taste, look and smell of the dish.

Charles Oguikpe, another registered dietitian-nutritionist, said the contaminants typically come from poultry droppings on the eggs.

“No matter how you wash it, you might not be very sure 100 per cent that it has gone off,” he said. Cross-contamination, he added, can cause stomach cramps, diarrhea and fever, and severe cases can lead to kidney complications.

Cheaper is not always cheaper

Both experts acknowledged why people do it. Cooking gas is expensive, and combining the two foods stretches a cylinder further.

Oloyede noted that some households now tie eggs in nylon before dropping them into the rice, which can stop leakage from a cracked shell.

Even so, he said, the safest method is simple: boil the eggs and the rice separately. Consequently, the small saving on gas should be weighed against the cost of treating an infection, the time lost to hospital visits and the wages a daily-paid worker forfeits while sick.

“Whatever we do, we must think of food safety first,” Oloyede said. Once the eggs are boiled and the shells removed, Oguikpe added, they are safe to eat alongside the rice, just not cooked in it.