According to an early English translation of the didactic fourteenth-century Latin poem Regimen Sanitatis Salernitanum, or “The Salernitan Rule of Health,” poached eggs are best…

Eggs would keep for only about a month before you had to eat them. To make them keep longer, people would often pickle eggs in salt water and vinegar. In China, people fermented eggs to make them keep longer…

It takes 4-7 days for eggs to hit the store shelf from when they’re laid. According to the Egg Farmers, the “Best Before Date” on the package adds 28 to 42 days from the packaging date.