Drinking raw egg whites carries a real risk of salmonella infection and delivers roughly half the protein your body would absorb from cooked eggs. Pasteurized egg whites sold in cartons are a much safer option if you want to drink them, though even these come with handling caveats worth knowing.
The Salmonella Risk Is Not Small
Raw eggs are one of the most common sources of salmonella, and egg whites aren’t exempt. A USDA baseline survey of raw liquid eggs found salmonella in roughly 7 to 11% of egg white samples, depending on how results were adjusted for lot size. That’s lower than whole eggs (around 34 to 43%) or yolks alone (26 to 32%), but it’s far from negligible. If you crack a raw egg into a glass and drink the white, you’re rolling the dice every time.
Salmonella infection typically causes diarrhea, fever, and stomach cramps that start 6 to 72 hours after exposure and last four to seven days. Most healthy adults recover without treatment, but the illness can become severe or even life-threatening for children under 5, adults over 65, and anyone with a weakened immune system from illness or medication.
Pasteurized Egg Whites Are the Safer Choice
Pasteurization heats liquid egg whites to a specific temperature for long enough to kill salmonella without cooking the protein. USDA guidelines call for heating egg whites to at least 134°F for 3.5 minutes under standard conditions, or to 140°F for as little as 21 seconds when the pH and risk level require a stronger kill step. The goal is a 100,000-fold reduction in salmonella, which effectively eliminates the bacteria.
Carton egg whites sold in grocery stores (brands like Egg Beaters or store-brand liquid whites) have already been pasteurized. These are the products fitness enthusiasts and bodybuilders typically add to smoothies or drink straight. If drinking raw egg whites is something you want to do regularly, pasteurized cartons are the only version worth considering.
Once opened, pasteurized liquid egg whites should stay refrigerated at or below 45°F and be used within two to six days. Treat an opened carton the way you’d treat fresh deli meat: the clock is ticking, and leaving it on the counter accelerates bacterial growth.
You Absorb Half the Protein From Raw Whites
This is the detail that surprises most people. A study measuring protein digestion in humans using isotope tracking found that cooked egg protein had a true digestibility of about 91%, while raw egg protein came in at just 51%. That means if you drink a glass of raw egg whites containing 25 grams of protein, your body only absorbs and uses around 13 grams. Cook those same whites, and you get closer to 23 grams.
The reason comes down to structure. Raw egg white proteins are tightly folded in ways that resist your digestive enzymes. Heat unfolds (denatures) those proteins, exposing the bonds your gut needs to break them apart. Cooking also inactivates natural compounds in egg whites that actively block protein-digesting enzymes, compounds that evolved to protect the egg from bacteria but work against you when you eat them raw.
If your goal in drinking egg whites is getting more protein, cooking them first nearly doubles what your body actually receives. Scrambling, boiling, or microwaving accomplishes the same thing nutritionally.
Vitamins and Minerals Don’t Change Much
One argument for drinking raw eggs is preserving heat-sensitive nutrients, but this turns out to be a minor concern. Research comparing fresh, soft-boiled, and hard-boiled eggs found no clear evidence that cooking destroys meaningful amounts of vitamins or minerals. There’s some indication that polyunsaturated fats, selenium, and vitamin A decline slightly in hard-boiled eggs, but these nutrients live primarily in the yolk, not the white. Egg whites are almost pure protein and water with small amounts of B vitamins, potassium, and magnesium. Cooking doesn’t meaningfully reduce any of these.
What About Biotin Deficiency?
Raw egg whites contain a protein called avidin that binds tightly to biotin (vitamin B7) and prevents your body from absorbing it. Eating large amounts of raw egg whites over weeks or months can lead to biotin deficiency, which shows up as hair thinning, skin rashes, and brittle nails. Cooking deactivates avidin completely. This isn’t a concern with an occasional raw egg white, but it matters if you’re drinking them daily as part of a fitness routine.
Practical Alternatives
If you want the convenience of liquid egg whites without the downsides of drinking them raw, a few approaches give you better results. Pasteurized carton whites can be quickly scrambled in under two minutes or microwaved in a mug for a fast, fully digestible protein source. Adding pasteurized whites to a smoothie and then blending with hot coffee or heating the smoothie briefly can partially denature the proteins, improving absorption without turning it into a cooked meal.
Whey or plant-based protein powders deliver comparable protein per serving with full digestibility and zero salmonella risk, which is why most sports dietitians recommend them over raw eggs for shakes and smoothies. If the appeal of egg whites is their whole-food simplicity, cooking them remains the best way to get the most from what they offer.