Can you eat eggs raw?

Safer choices and when it is OK

• Level E FDA: For recipes that call for eggs that are raw or undercooked when the dish is served — like Caesar salad dressing and homemade ice cream — use either shell eggs that have been treated to destroy Salmonella, by pasteurization or another approved method, or pasteurized egg products. FDA, What You Need to Know About Egg Safety, accessed 2026-10-12

How to cook or handle it

• Level E FDA: Cook eggs until both the yolk and the white are firm. Scrambled eggs should not be runny. FDA, What You Need to Know About Egg Safety, accessed 2026-10-12
• Level E FoodSafety.gov: Eggs Raw eggs Cook until yolk and white are firm (Safe Minimum Internal Temperature chart row (cells joined by a space)) FoodSafety.gov, Safe Minimum Internal Temperatures, accessed 2026-10-12
• Level E USDA FSIS: Eggs 160 degrees F (71.1 degrees C) (Safe Minimum Internal Temperature chart row (cells joined by a space)) USDA FSIS, Safe Minimum Internal Temperature Chart, accessed 2026-10-12

Why the advice exists

• Level E FDA: Fresh eggs, even those with clean, uncracked shells, may contain bacteria called Salmonella that can cause foodborne illness, often called “food poisoning.” FDA, What You Need to Know About Egg Safety, accessed 2026-10-12
• Level E CDC: Raw and lightly cooked eggs can contain Salmonella. CDC, Raw Dough and Flour, accessed 2026-10-12
• Level E FDA: To prevent illness from bacteria: keep eggs refrigerated, cook eggs until yolks are firm, and cook foods containing eggs thoroughly. FDA, What You Need to Know About Egg Safety, accessed 2026-10-12

Word-for-word quotes from official US sources. Level E means the position of an expert body. How we grade evidence.

• Level B Raw eggs are about half as digestible as cooked ones. The trial that tested the Rocky breakfast quotes the figures: roughly 91 percent for cooked egg protein against roughly 51 percent for raw. Hermans et al., Journal of Nutrition, 2022
• Level C Pooled surveys put Salmonella on 7.20% of eggs sampled in China, more often on shells (8.30%) than in egg contents (4.50%). Int J Food Microbiol, 2026
• Level C Measured in the human gut with isotope tracers, essential amino acids were about 89% digestible from whole boiled egg and 92% from cooked hen meat. Am J Clin Nutr, 2018
• Level C The classic English case-control study of 232 Salmonella enteritidis patients tied illness to raw shell egg products such as homemade mayonnaise, and to shop bought sandwiches containing mayonnaise or eggs. BMJ, 1989

Levels: A is a meta-analysis of trials, B a randomized trial, C an observational study, D lab or animal work, E an expert position. How we grade evidence.

Salmonella can be on the shell and inside the egg, so a clean, uncracked egg is no guarantee. Pooled surveys from China found it on 8.3% of shells and 4.5% of egg contents (Level C). The authors say that is higher than levels reported in the US and Europe. A classic English case-control study of 232 patients from 1988 tied Salmonella enteritidis to raw shell egg products such as homemade mayonnaise (Level C).

Raw eggs also give you less of their protein. Earlier work, cited in a 2022 trial, put cooked egg protein at about 91% digested, against about 51% for raw.

If a recipe needs raw or runny eggs, like Caesar dressing or homemade ice cream, use pasteurized shell eggs or egg products. That swap matters most for people at higher risk of food poisoning: pregnant women, young children, adults 65 and older, and people with weakened immune systems.

Evidence behind this note

1. Level C Pooled surveys put Salmonella on 7.20% of eggs sampled in China, more often on shells (8.30%) than in egg contents (4.50%). Int J Food Microbiol, 2026
2. Level C The classic English case-control study of 232 Salmonella enteritidis patients tied illness to raw shell egg products such as homemade mayonnaise, and to shop bought sandwiches containing mayonnaise or eggs. BMJ, 1989
3. Level B Raw eggs are about half as digestible as cooked ones. The trial that tested the Rocky breakfast quotes the figures: roughly 91 percent for cooked egg protein against roughly 51 percent for raw. Hermans et al., Journal of Nutrition, 2022

Written from the agency positions and data on this page, reviewed by the Bioma editorial system. How we verify.

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