Re: anyone eat store eggs raw?

May 31, 2003

Carma-

I can only say I eat some such eggs raw depending on their quality, but as

to a pregnant woman or a tot, I'll leave that to someone else.

>I get the health

>food store eggs (says free range, omega-3, often vegetarian feed). Are these

>safe to eat raw? For me (I'm pregnant) and for my toddler (19mo)?

-

May 31, 2003

I've eaten them raw before, actually plenty of them, but I would be weary of

recommending doing so, like , for a pregnant woman and a tot.

Chris

May 31, 2003

>I've eaten them raw before, actually plenty of them, but I would be weary

>of recommending doing so, like , for a pregnant woman and a tot.

>

>Chris

I always hate these things that are statistically based! Esp. when it comes

to kids. There is a really good writup on the issue on:

http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dbmd/diseaseinfo/salment_g.htm

Two parts struck me:

" Most types of Salmonella live in the intestinal tracts of animals and

birds and are transmitted to humans by contaminated foods of animal origin.

Stringent procedures for cleaning and inspecting eggs were implemented in

the 1970s and have made salmonellosis caused by external fecal

contamination of egg shells extremely rare. However, unlike eggborne

salmonellosis of past decades, the current epidemic is due to intact and

disinfected grade A eggs. The reason for this is that Salmonella

enteritidis silently infects the ovaries of healthy appearing hens and

contaminates the eggs before the shells are formed. "

....

" In affected parts of the United States, we estimate that one in 50 average

consumers could be exposed to a contaminated egg each year. If that egg is

thoroughly cooked, the Salmonella organisms will be destroyed and will not

make the person sick. Many dishes made in restaurants or commercial or

institutional kitchens, however, are made from pooled eggs. If 500 eggs are

pooled, one batch in 20 will be contaminated and everyone who eats eggs

from that batch is at risk. "

===========

Basically, most of the folks that got SICK off the salmonella eggs were

eating stuff that sat out at room temperature for awhile, like custard pies

or salad dressing. I haven't seen any writups of someone who got sick from

say, an egg sunny-side up (which is essentially a raw egg yolk, slightly

warmed). The egg SHELL caused most of the problems, but the commercial eggs

are now cleaned and run under an ultraviolet lamp, which is a great idea, I

think, and similar to sitting out in the sun and ozone a bit. Probably my

homegrown eggs have more contaminated shells than the commercial ones!

So it's still your call: being pregnant or young complicates things. I

think using the egg in a smoothie with some kefir would minimize the risk

further. Actually using kefir daily or with meals probably minimizes the

risk of ANY food infection, and there are a lot more than just salmonella

(listeria is more common, I think). No one around here has had any kind of

food poisoning since we started kefiring, and one woman was getting it 5

times a year or so.

-- Heidi

June 3, 2003

Hi,

my familiy and i eat a lot of store bought raw eggs every day. My

kids are 4 and 6 and eat a couple a week. I eat about 3 a day. We

have never had a problem.

I choose the freshest organic eggs in the bin, usually at the back

-joe

> I haven't yet been able to locate a local source for eggs. I get

the health

> food store eggs (says free range, omega-3, often vegetarian feed).

Are these

> safe to eat raw? For me (I'm pregnant) and for my toddler (19mo)?

>

> ~ Carma ~

>

> " Having a family is like having a bowling alley installed inside

your head. "

> ~ Mull ~

>

> Home Education Resources & Links Directory:

> http://members.ispwest.com/paden/

>

June 3, 2003

Carma,

I too am pregnant, and although I normally would eat raw eats now I

avoid them. It's just not worth the risk. There's just no way of

absolutely knowing if the egg is alright unless you see a certified

clean chicken lay it. So until you give birth, stick with the cooked

stuff (including meat etc.) It's driving me crazy having to avoid raw

things like salame (which is delicious here in Italy) or rare steaks,

but I figure I can do that for nine months so that I don't take any

risks with the baby. Someone else may have a different opinion

though, so don't take my word for it. I just like to play it safe and

I figure I get enzymes in a lot of other ways.

Hope that helps.

Dawn in Rome

> I can only say I eat some such eggs raw depending on their quality,

but as

> to a pregnant woman or a tot, I'll leave that to someone else.

>

> >I get the health

> >food store eggs (says free range, omega-3, often vegetarian feed).

Are these

> >safe to eat raw? For me (I'm pregnant) and for my toddler (19mo)?

>

June 10, 2003

I was just at one of Sally Fallon's talks this weekend. She said that she

would NOT eat raw eggs from the supermarket, and that if she did eat eggs

raw, she would only eat the yolks from pastured farm eggs and not the

whites. In addition, she says that when people ask her the best way to eat

eggs, she says just to eat them the way you like them best She also said

she would not eat all food raw. She thinks some nutrients are better