Comment by agotterer
7 years ago
As an American I was always told to be cautious of eating undercooked or raw eggs because of the risk of salmonella. Is this still a real concern of the eggs are pasteurized and refrigerated?
7 years ago
As an American I was always told to be cautious of eating undercooked or raw eggs because of the risk of salmonella. Is this still a real concern of the eggs are pasteurized and refrigerated?
Eggs aren't pasteurised, they're sanitised by washing in the US. As the article says this removes the protective coating that keeps bacteria out, so refrigeration is required to reduce bacteria infiltration.
The salmonella would be present on the outside of the egg, so if you're paranoid simply wash the egg immediately before use if you're going to consume it raw.
You're more likely to catch something from a salad these days anyway.
Pasteurized eggs are available. For example: https://www.walmart.com/ip/Davidson-s-Safest-Choice-Large-AA...
You can buy pasteurized eggs, either in-shell or as liquid egg products, in the U.S.
I haven't been able to find in-shell pasteurized eggs for years.
You can pasturize them yourself, but the margins are pretty tight, and there is no way to verify you were successful.
The risk is reduced with pasteurization.
Salmonella can contaminate both the outside of eggs through contact with environmental contamination, or inside the eggs from a hen colonized or infected with Salmonella.
Cook your eggs.
I don't believe most US eggs are pasteurized; it will be clearly noted, and the texture upon opening will be different, if they are. My understanding is such eggs are somewhat safer for use in recipes requiring "raw" eggs, but there's still some risk.
(The specific US-style washing-then-refrigeration in this article is just one way of minimizing shell-to-inside contamination that's distinct from pasteurization.)
About half the eggs in the US come from chickens that have been immunized against salmonella. There's no easy way to tell, but you can call them and ask.
I’ve been under the impression that it makes more of a difference if they are washed. Unwashed eggs are supposedly safer. Or so I though. I can’t find anything authoritative on safety: washed versus unwashed.
The presence of salmonella means the egg is real. It came from a bird's vaganus (cloaca) instead of being constructed by the likes of Cadbury.