Food in the News: What's the Deal with Pasteurized Eggs?

With Salmonella scares and this egg recall in the news, pasteurized eggs have been getting more attention than usual. Wondering if you should switch over? Here are a few things to know.

Pasteurized eggs come in three forms: out of the shell in cartons, dried and powdered, and (increasingly) as whole eggs in the shell. Since eggs will start to cook around 145°, pasteurization has to happen below this temperature. Most eggs are pasteurized by holding them in a warm water bath between 130° and 140° for 5 - 45 minutes. After pasteurization, eggs are coated with food-grade wax to prevent further contamination.

Pasteurization kills potentially harmful bacteria, including Salmonella. There is some debate about whether the process might also kill or alter other healthful parts of the egg or affects its overall nutritional value, just as with pasteurized milk verses raw milk. Harold McGee in On Food and Cooking says that pasteurized eggs can be used in place of fresh eggs, but sometimes they won’t foam as much or coagulate as efficiently.

What do you think? Will you start using pasteurized eggs?

(Image: Flickr member Maveric2003 licensed under Creative Commons)

Comments (26)

They're really expensive, so I'd only buy them for making something where I won't be fully cooking the yolk, like if I were to do a soft boiled egg. Even then, though, I'd really have to do some considering, seeing as my budget's tight.

I buy them regularly and find that they work really well. I have a cookie dough eating habit that I dont want to give up... and so I buy the pasturized eggs in case I ever want to make cookies. I dont eat enough eggs to make it really worth my time to worry about the cost. Plus cost of Antibiotics >> cost of pasteurized eggs, so I think it works out ok.

I usually pick up other eggs if I want to make something that depends entirely on the success of whipping egg whites, like meringue or mousse.

No. Never had an issue with eggs in 46 years of eating them, and I buy from small local farms. Sure, those eggs can still have issues, but it's less likely. Will never buy pasturized eggs.

Never!

those recalled eggs are being resold as liquid eggs, FYI.

Just give them time. The politicians will eventually make it illegal to buy raw eggs, just like it's illegal to buy raw milk for human consumption (in MD anyway). NY is already discussing mandatory salmonella vaccinations.

http://blogs.reuters.com/great-debate/2010/08/27/sunny-side-up-why-eggs-are-safer-in-europe/

I have no interest in pasteurized eggs.

We get ours freshly laid from a farm nearby.

Pastured eggs, not pasteurized eggs!

The Salmonella recall highlights the issues risk inherent with massive scale farming operations, more than the risk of Salmonella itself. Two operators = 500 million eggs recalled. Scary stuff!

It has been estimated that under normal circumstances, 1/20,000 eggs carry Salmonella. Seems like a pretty low risk. However, if I were serving Hollandaise sauce to guests at a dinner party, I might consider using pasteurized eggs.

The issue is not the eggs it is our whole large scale food production system.
SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL FARMERS not mega-corporate-global-we dont-care-about-anything-buy-money-agro-business!!!

Since the inside of the egg is sterile until the egg is cracked, couldn't you just briefly boil the egg to ensure it's safety? Who do we have to pay more for someone to do that for us?

We buy local, organic eggs from happy chickens who range freely outside. I'm still a little cautious about them.

I would gladly buy pasturized eggs for things like mayonnaise, if I could find them. My family in Minnesota has been able to buy them for years at all their grocery stores. I live north of Boston and even the folks at Whole Foods looked at me as if I was crazy when I asked for them. The only thing I've found here is pasturized packaged egg whites in cartons.

When I lived in Chicago I bought them when I was going to be baking (as my kids often liked to "taste" the batter). I have never seen them in San Diego.

One of the problems with that egg producer in Iowa was that he was too cheap to have his chickens vaccinated for salmonella. THAT was the problem.

If the egg farmer who produces your eggs gets their chickens vaccinated then there shouldn't be a problem.

I called the company whose eggs I buy, Eggland's Best, and asked them about this, and they DO vaccinate all their chickens.

I feel perfectly confident eating their eggs.

It's easy to fall into the habit of buying cheap eggs, especially when they are offered at super-low prices. However, the way I look at it, farm fresh eggs are still a super-cheap source of protein at $3-4/dozen, and they are both nutritionally and morally superior to the mass produced ones. They are only expensive compared to cheap eggs, but not in comparison to other foods, and certainly not when compared to anything prepared. So although I like a deal at the grocery store, this is one I'm no longer tempted by.

Colin, Icefan and the other are right. Just buy locally from small producers.
And still, if bigger producer would stamp place of production and date on every egg, there would not be so many health risks.

forget vaccination even, you should not have to pasteurize eggs or vaccinate chickens. that's putting a band-aid on a huge wound. The reason the people that get eggs from small farms and other producers that have the chickens in a good environment don't have problems is simply because the chickens and eggs are in an environment where salmonella and other viruses aren't rampant.

If you get your stuff from places that keep the environment clean and treat the animals well, you don't have to worry or take measures that kill other nutrients that you do need.

Nah, no pasteurized eggs for me -- that just supports yet more industrial mega-farms. You can't get salmonella eggs from a healthy chicken, so buy from a small, local producer and your eggs will be disease-free. Or hey, go all the way and raise your own chickens.

What Dana V said! Pastured eggs are the best.

What about Organic from a grocery store?

No need to use eggs, pasteurized or not, when there are so many other options available. I gave them up when I started cooking in quantity for the public- my baking is better, and I'm healthier for it.

Eggs from a local farmer where the chickens have a clean environment and access to grass where they can eat bugs and be happy and healthy are the way to go. I regularily eat my eggs raw, mixed into a glass of raw milk.

I buy cage free organic eggs from a local farm and eat them raw often with no problems. Completely worth the higher price to know that the chicken that laid the egg is treated humanely and that my food isn't full of antibiotics and other chemicals.

The problem stems from factory farming, not from eggs themselves.

People need to realize that mass produced food will carry disease.

I have read most of the comments and I have to say there is a lot of misconceptions. First, organic/ local farm eggs can have salmonella. It is a naturally occuring organism! Bacteria can be found anywhere. Also, you may want to look into the brand of organic eggs your eating. http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/09/shocking-pics-conditions-organic-egg-farms.php
That term is turning into a marketing gimic more than anything. And for the eggland's best fan- they mass produce eggs and their organic ones got some of the worst ratings- that is what the link is for.

Now onto vaccinatations. The second farm involved in the recall vaccinated their hens! In fact most hens are vaccinated atleast once. BUT any hen that has been vaccinated can be reinfected within two weeks. Plus if you are worried about hormones why would you want to consumer vaccines??

Someone also mentioned how the inside of the egg is sterile. Well most of the cases of salmonella and eggs in the past decade come from the inside of the egg, since it is common practice now for the outside to be washed before packaging. Salmonella is passed from a healthy hen's (they show no signs of having salmonella) ovaries to the INSIDE of the egg.

I'm not sure why people are so against pasteurization of eggs. The ones in the shell are great. Read this taste test for yourself. http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/food/sc-food-0910-pasteurized-eggs-20100908,0,4497852.story
The brand Davidson's Safest Choice is what I have been buying for a couple years now, safeeggs.com. Do people not realize that EVERYTHING in the dairy case is pasteurized, except for eggs! Juices, milks, ect.

Also, the person who said the yolk of an egg is unhealthy...um..what? That is where all the nutrients are!!! The cholesterol is not a problem if you eat a healthy and moderate diet. Some of the nutrients found in an egg yolk are not found anywhere else.