[thedoc (OP)]

Naked Scientists,

Love your show & appreciate what you do.

I have a problem - I can't keep my fingers out of the raw cookie dough! I know food poisoning can come from raw eggs though.

Does the bacteria come from the outside of the shell or can it really be passed on to offspring?

And how much of a risk is it really?

Thanks!
Jessica


Asked by Jessica Harwood


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[cheryl j]

I think its contamination from the shell outside of the egg. The inside should be sterile. I don't know whether washing the outside of the egg would be sufficient to eliminate any salmonella, but if I were going to eat raw eggs like Rockey I probably would.

[Dean]

Egg  shells have a natural coating of  oil which has antibacterial properties,  if you wash the egg, especially with any type of detergent the oil coating is removed. The shell which is porous ( to allow oxygen in etc) then also allows bacteria through which dramatically shortens the shelf life of the egg.
Commercially the egg can be re-oiled but that adds to production costs.