Yes, commercially sold eggs in the United States are safe to eat right now, as long as you cook them thoroughly. The concern driving this question is usually bird flu (H5N1), which has been circulating in dairy cattle and poultry flocks. But no one in the U.S. has gotten sick from bird flu by eating properly cooked eggs or poultry, and cooking eggs to 165°F kills both the avian influenza virus and salmonella bacteria.
Bird Flu and Eggs: What You Need to Know
H5N1 avian influenza has been detected in U.S. poultry flocks, which is why the question keeps coming up. The CDC’s position is straightforward: cooking poultry and eggs to an internal temperature of 165°F kills avian influenza viruses. The small number of human infections linked to poultry products worldwide have involved uncooked poultry or poultry blood in Southeast Asia, not cooked eggs from a grocery store.
Flocks that test positive for highly pathogenic avian influenza are removed from the food supply entirely. Their eggs and meat never reach store shelves. So the eggs you see at the supermarket come from flocks that have passed federal inspection.
The Everyday Risk: Salmonella
Bird flu grabs headlines, but salmonella is the more practical concern with eggs and has been for decades. About 1 in every 20,000 commercially produced eggs carries salmonella bacteria. That’s a 0.005% chance for any individual egg, which is low but not zero, especially if you eat eggs daily over many years.
A salmonella infection typically causes diarrhea, fever, and stomach cramps starting 6 hours to 6 days after exposure. Most people recover in 4 to 7 days without treatment. Children under 5, adults over 65, and anyone with a weakened immune system face higher risks of severe illness or hospitalization.
The most recent U.S. egg-related salmonella outbreak was traced to cage-free eggs from Country Eggs, LLC, distributed in California and Nevada between June and July 2025. That outbreak is now over, the product was recalled in August, and the FDA confirmed it’s no longer on the market.
Cooking Temperatures That Matter
The temperatures that make eggs safe depend on how you’re preparing them. For eggs cracked and cooked immediately (scrambled, fried, poached), reaching 145°F for 15 seconds is sufficient. For dishes where eggs are mixed into a recipe and cooked later, like a casserole or quiche, the target is 155°F for 17 seconds. If you’re reheating an egg dish in the microwave, bring it to 165°F and let it stand covered for two minutes.
In practical terms, this means your scrambled eggs should be fully set with no visible liquid, your fried eggs should have a firm white (a runny yolk is a personal risk calculation), and any baked dish with eggs in it should be cooked until it’s firm throughout.
Runny Yolks, Raw Eggs, and Cookie Dough
Sunny-side-up eggs, soft-boiled eggs, homemade Caesar dressing, raw cookie dough, and fresh mayonnaise all involve eggs that haven’t reached safe temperatures. For most healthy adults, the risk from any single undercooked egg is very small given the 1-in-20,000 contamination rate. But it’s not zero, and the consequences can be miserable.
If you enjoy runny yolks or use raw eggs in recipes, pasteurized shell eggs are a straightforward solution. These eggs have been heat-treated just enough to kill bacteria without cooking the egg itself. They look, taste, and perform the same way in recipes but carry virtually no salmonella risk. They’re sold at most grocery stores, usually labeled clearly on the carton.
Storage and Handling Basics
Get eggs into the refrigerator as soon as you’re home from the store. Keep them at 40°F or below, in their original carton, in the coldest part of the fridge rather than the door. They’ll stay good for 3 to 5 weeks from purchase. Hard-boiled eggs last about a week in the fridge, and leftover cooked egg dishes should be eaten within 3 to 4 days.
Don’t wash your eggs before storing them. Commercial eggs in the U.S. are already cleaned and sanitized before packaging. Washing them again at home can actually pull bacteria through the shell’s pores via the wash water, increasing contamination risk rather than reducing it. Also, once refrigerated, eggs shouldn’t sit out for more than 2 hours. A cold egg brought to room temperature will sweat, and that moisture on the shell can carry pathogens inward.
Backyard and Farm-Fresh Eggs
Eggs from backyard chickens or local farms don’t go through the same USDA-regulated cleaning and inspection process as commercial eggs. That doesn’t make them dangerous, but it changes the rules slightly. If farm-fresh eggs have been washed and sanitized, they need to be refrigerated because washing removes the egg’s natural protective coating (called the cuticle). If they haven’t been washed, refrigeration is recommended but not strictly required since that coating is still intact.
Once you refrigerate farm-fresh eggs, keep them refrigerated. The temperature shift creates condensation that can allow bacteria to migrate through the shell. The same cooking guidelines apply: cook to at least 145°F for eggs served immediately, higher for mixed dishes. Backyard flocks are not tested for avian influenza the way commercial operations are, so thorough cooking is especially important during active bird flu outbreaks in your region.