Raw eggs carry a small but real risk of Salmonella infection, and you can’t eliminate that risk entirely. What you can do is reduce it significantly through sourcing, storage, and preparation choices. Roughly 1 in every 20,000 eggs produced in the United States contains Salmonella, which sounds rare until you consider how many eggs you eat in a lifetime.
Why Raw Eggs Carry Risk
Salmonella bacteria can be present inside an egg before the shell even forms, passed from an infected hen’s ovaries into the developing yolk. This means a perfectly clean, uncracked egg can still harbor the bacteria internally. Most healthy adults who contract Salmonella experience diarrhea, fever, and stomach cramps that resolve within a few days, but the infection can be dangerous for young children, older adults, pregnant women, and anyone with a weakened immune system.
Beyond bacteria, raw egg whites contain a protein called avidin that binds tightly to biotin (vitamin B7) and prevents your body from absorbing it. This binding is one of the strongest in nature and resists digestion. The practical concern is limited, though: the amount of avidin in one egg white roughly cancels out the biotin in the yolk, so eating whole raw eggs occasionally won’t cause a deficiency. Eating large quantities of raw whites alone over weeks or months is a different story.
Use Pasteurized Eggs
The single most effective step is to buy pasteurized shell eggs or pasteurized liquid egg products. Pasteurized eggs have been gently heated just enough to kill Salmonella without cooking the egg. In the U.S., all commercially sold liquid egg products (cartons of whites, yolks, or whole eggs) are required by federal regulation to be pasteurized and tested for Salmonella. They’re specifically designed to be safe without further cooking.
Pasteurized shell eggs are sold by several brands and are usually labeled clearly on the carton. They look and taste nearly identical to regular eggs and work in any raw application: smoothies, homemade mayonnaise, Caesar dressing, protein shakes, cookie dough, or steak tartare. If your recipe calls for raw eggs, pasteurized products are the simplest way to handle the safety question.
Choosing and Storing Fresh Eggs
If you’re using regular (unpasteurized) eggs raw, sourcing and handling matter. Buy eggs that have been consistently refrigerated at the store, check for cracks in every shell before purchasing, and look at the pack date on the carton. In the U.S., egg cartons display a three-digit Julian date showing when the eggs were packed. Fresher eggs have had less time for any bacteria present to multiply.
Get eggs into your refrigerator quickly and keep it set at 40°F (4°C) or below. Fresh shell eggs stay good for 3 to 5 weeks in the refrigerator. Don’t wash eggs before storing them. Commercially sold eggs in the U.S. have a protective coating applied during processing, and washing removes part of that coating, making it easier for bacteria to penetrate the shell. If you want to rinse an egg, do it immediately before use.
The classic float test (fresh eggs sink, old eggs float) does indicate age, since older eggs develop a larger air cell inside. But it tells you about freshness, not bacterial safety. A sinking egg isn’t guaranteed to be Salmonella-free, and a floating egg isn’t necessarily contaminated. The pack date on the carton is more reliable for making safety decisions.
Acidifying Raw Egg Preparations
When making mayonnaise, aioli, or salad dressings with raw yolks, adding acid provides a meaningful layer of protection. Vinegar or lemon juice lowers the pH of the mixture, creating an environment where Salmonella struggles to survive and grow. The target is a pH at or below 4.2, according to food safety authorities in Australia’s NSW Food Authority guidelines for commercial kitchens.
At home, you won’t have a pH meter, but traditional recipes naturally hit this range. A tablespoon of lemon juice or white vinegar per egg yolk, mixed thoroughly and allowed to sit for a few minutes before adding oil, brings the acidity into a safer zone. This doesn’t sterilize the mixture, but it significantly limits bacterial growth, especially if you keep the finished product refrigerated and use it within a day or two.
Raw Eggs Are Less Nutritious Than Cooked
People often eat raw eggs assuming they’re getting more nutrition by avoiding heat. The opposite is true for protein. Your body absorbs about 91% of the protein in a cooked egg but only about 51% from a raw one. Heat changes the structure of egg proteins in ways that make them far easier to digest and use. If you’re eating raw eggs for the protein, you’re getting roughly half the benefit compared to scrambling or boiling them.
Cooking also deactivates avidin, freeing up the biotin in the yolk for absorption. So cooked eggs deliver more protein and more B vitamins per egg than raw ones do.
Reducing Risk at a Glance
- Best option: Use pasteurized shell eggs or pasteurized liquid egg products for any recipe that won’t be cooked.
- Freshness: Check the pack date, use eggs within 3 to 5 weeks of purchase, and refrigerate at 40°F or below.
- Inspect shells: Discard any egg with a crack, as bacteria enter easily through breaks.
- Don’t pre-wash: Leave the protective coating intact until you’re ready to use the egg.
- Add acid: When making mayonnaise or dressings, use enough lemon juice or vinegar to bring the pH below 4.2.
- Eat promptly: Use raw egg preparations the same day and keep them refrigerated.
- Know your risk level: Young children, pregnant women, older adults, and immunocompromised individuals should avoid raw eggs entirely, even with these precautions.