Pasteurized eggs

Pasteurized eggs are eggs that have been pasteurized in order to reduce the risk of food-borne illness in dishes that are not cooked or are only lightly cooked. They may be sold as liquid egg products or pasteurized in the shell.

The 2013 United States Food and Drug Administration Food Code defines regular shell eggs as a potentially hazardous food, i.e., “a food that requires time/temperature control for safety (TCS) to limit pathogenic microorganism growth or toxin formation.”

All egg products sold in the U.S are pasteurized due to the risk of food-borne illnesses per U.S. Department of Agriculture rules. They also do not allow any egg products to be sold without going through the process of pasteurization. They also do not recommend eating shell eggs that are raw or undercooked due to the possibility that Salmonella bacteria may be present.

Because of the risk of food-borne illness caused by Salmonella bacteria that may be present in raw eggs, the U.S. Department of Agriculture requires a safe-handling advisory statement on all packages of raw shell eggs that are not treated to destroy Salmonella as follows: "Safe Handling Instructions: To prevent illness from bacteria: Keep eggs refrigerated, cook eggs until yolks are firm, and cook foods containing eggs thoroughly."

The primary risk associated with eggs is food-borne illness caused by Salmonella enteritidis bacteria. Salmonella enteritidis is a dangerous bacterium that can be transferred to humans through ingestion of raw or undercooked eggs. Nearly 4 out of 5 Salmonella-related foodborne illness cases share a common vehicle: raw or undercooked shell eggs.

Salmonellosis, the illness that a Salmonella infection causes, is characterized by nausea, vomiting, abdominal cramps, diarrhea, fever, and headache. The onset of its symptoms begins between 6 hours and 72 hours after the consumption of food contaminated with Salmonella bacteria. As few as 15 bacterial cells can cause food-borne illness.

The Centers for Disease Control and for Disease Prevention estimate there are 1.2 million cases of salmonellosis per year in the US (based on data from 2011), and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) estimates that consuming eggs contaminated with Salmonella cause 142,000 illnesses each year. Of these, an estimated 23,000 illnesses require hospitalizations, 450 result in death, and 6,622 result in chronic sequelae (after-effects)—most commonly reactive arthritis, which develops 7–20 days after illness and occurs in an estimated 2-3% of cases.

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Wikipedia