# Prevalence of salmonella in raw eggs

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prevalence-of-salmonella-in-raw-eggs/545116>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [June 30, 2010, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prevalence-of-salmonella-in-raw-eggs/545116 "2010-06-30T21:33:04Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\
**Post date:** [June 30, 2010, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prevalence-of-salmonella-in-raw-eggs/545116/1 "2010-06-30T21:33:04Z")

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I’m getting mixed answers from Google. Is there a trustworthy cite (i.e., \*not \*industry or informal) for the prevalence/infection rate of raw eggs? I realize it will be an average and fluctuate by certain variables (e.g., handling, intactness, etc.), but does the USDA, FDA, CDC or other government agency publish such statistics?

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**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\
**Post date:** [June 30, 2010, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prevalence-of-salmonella-in-raw-eggs/545116/2 "2010-06-30T22:57:30Z")

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Is the salmonella actually IN the eggs? I always thought it was on the shell and as you break open the shell the yolk and/or egg white picks up the salmonella from the outside of the shell

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**Author:** ![rhubarbarin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eb9ed0/32.png) [@rhubarbarin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rhubarbarin)\
**Post date:** [July 1, 2010, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prevalence-of-salmonella-in-raw-eggs/545116/3 "2010-07-01T02:55:08Z")

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I’d like to know too. I don’t always refrigerate my eggs and I eat them raw often.

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**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\
**Post date:** [July 1, 2010, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prevalence-of-salmonella-in-raw-eggs/545116/4 "2010-07-01T02:59:49Z")

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It is usually estimated that one in 20,000 eggs may contain Salmonella Enteritidis (SE).

[United States Department of Agriculture. Salmonella Enteritidis Risk Assessment. June 1998, page 1](http://www.fsis.usda.gov/ophs/risk/)

[European Food Safety Authority. Quantitative risk assessment of Salmonella Enteritidis in shell eggs in Europe. April 2010, page 13](http://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/scdocs/scdoc/1588.htm)

While historically most of the risk of contracting salmonellosis has been as **Markxxx** described, recent outbreaks have been due to internal contamination. Salmonella can penetrate the shell before laying, and a hen with diseased ovaries can also infect the eggs from the outset. The risk of getting sick is significantly affected by the number of organisms inside the egg.

Good Powerpoint by the CDC [here](http://www.fda.gov/downloads/Food/FoodSafety/Product-SpecificInformation/EggSafety/EggSafetyActionPlan/UCM195539.pdf) (PDF version)