# Raw eggs in beer (safety) **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 10, 2011, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/raw-eggs-in-beer-safety/588528 "2011-07-10T18:20:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2011, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/raw-eggs-in-beer-safety/588528/1 "2011-07-10T18:20:11Z")
How safe is the traditional alcoholic’s breakfast? ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2011, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/raw-eggs-in-beer-safety/588528/2 "2011-07-10T18:34:13Z")
Thats a tradition? Blech ---
**Author:** ![Toucanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3bc359/32.png) [@Toucanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toucanna)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2011, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/raw-eggs-in-beer-safety/588528/3 "2011-07-10T18:45:51Z")
😕I have heard it’s drunk as a “hangover cure”. (Not that I believe in that and yes, pun intended, thank you:) ) ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2011, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/raw-eggs-in-beer-safety/588528/4 "2011-07-10T19:23:10Z")
As safe as eating any raw egg, or eating unbaked cake mix or cookie dough - a bit of a gamble, but probably OK. The alcohol in the beer won’t kill pathogens, if they’re present in the egg. ---
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2011, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/raw-eggs-in-beer-safety/588528/5 "2011-07-11T01:44:16Z")
I have never heard of that, and I think I’m going to vomit at the thought… Joe ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2011, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/raw-eggs-in-beer-safety/588528/6 "2011-07-11T01:45:30Z")
Ruins a perfectly good egg and a perfectly good beer. ETA: assuming it’s a good beer to begin with. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2011, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/raw-eggs-in-beer-safety/588528/7 "2011-07-11T02:00:35Z")
> [@wheresgeorge04](#): > > I have never heard of that, and I think I’m going to vomit at the thought… > > Joe I agree. Never heard of it and will never try it. ---
**Author:** ![AnalogSignal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/analogsignal/32/1085_2.png) [@AnalogSignal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AnalogSignal)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2011, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/raw-eggs-in-beer-safety/588528/8 "2011-07-11T03:09:20Z")
Not safe because of the risk of Salmonella bacteria. ---
**Author:** ![appleciders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85f322/32.png) [@appleciders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/appleciders)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2011, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/raw-eggs-in-beer-safety/588528/9 "2011-07-11T04:52:44Z")
I think it’s called a “prairie oyster”. I know it as an Old West thing. Edit: Nope, I was wrong. Nevermind. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2011, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/raw-eggs-in-beer-safety/588528/10 "2011-07-11T04:56:39Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > How safe is the traditional alcoholic’s breakfast? I’d say about as safe as the traditional alcoholic. ---
**Author:** ![Hunter\_Hawk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/50afbb/32.png) [@Hunter\_Hawk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hunter_Hawk)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2011, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/raw-eggs-in-beer-safety/588528/11 "2011-07-11T05:16:42Z")
If you’re paranoid, you can get pasteurized in-the-shell eggs. > **[Pasteurized eggs | Pasteurized shell eggs](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pasteurized_eggs#Pasteurized_shell_eggs)** > > According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, in-shell pasteurized eggs may be used safely without cooking. For example, they may safely be consumed raw (as in raw cookie dough or eggnog) or in undercooked forms (such as a sunny-side up egg). Many food service and health care providers use these eggs to prevent cross-contamination in their kitchens. ---
**Author:** ![ratatoskK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ratatoskk/32/2987_2.png) [@ratatoskK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ratatoskK)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2011, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/raw-eggs-in-beer-safety/588528/12 "2011-07-11T12:51:50Z")
Why would anyone drink this? Is it supposed to make you throw up? ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2011, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/raw-eggs-in-beer-safety/588528/13 "2011-07-11T13:25:14Z")
In fact, there used to be a saying you don’t hear much anymore: “Whaddya want, egg in your beer?”. Used when you’ve already gotten something, but aren’t satisfied with it. Implying that egg in your beer is in some way desirable. I’ve only seen it done when I was just barely old enough to be hanging out in bars, and it was some old geezer that would be doing it. Presumably the old geezer started doing it when HE was just barely old enough to be hanging out in bars, putting the practice a good ways back, maybe into the 1930s. ---
**Author:** ![lazybratsche](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ba8739/32.png) [@lazybratsche](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lazybratsche)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2011, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/raw-eggs-in-beer-safety/588528/14 "2011-07-11T13:53:47Z")
The alcohol in beer (or even wine) at around 5% is too weak to effectively disinfect anything. Remember that all that alcohol was produced by yeast happily fermenting sugars. They stop producing more once the alcohol has reached a mildly toxic concentration sufficient to prevent new growth (but not kill!). The yeast in an unfiltered bottle of beer is still alive. Yeast isn’t even a particularly hardy microbe compared to many pathogenic bacteria like salmonella. In fact I think I remember some bit of science reporting saying that moderately boozy eggnog (maybe 20% alcohol?) will slow the growth of salmonella and eventually kill it after several weeks. The ~3% alcohol you end up with in your beer+egg concoction might barely slow the bacterial growth. If you’re starting with a contaminated egg, the beer won’t help at all. But the vast majority of eggs aren’t contaminated at all, which is why there isn’t an massive epidemic of Death By Cookie Dough. Maybe 99.9% of the time you’d be just fine, 0.09% of the time you might end up with a mild case of food poisoning, and 0.01% of the time you might have a serious case of food poisoning. Frankly you’re probably taking a bigger risk every time you get in your car. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2011, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/raw-eggs-in-beer-safety/588528/15 "2011-07-11T14:24:09Z")
> [@Toucanna](#): > > 😕I have heard it’s drunk as a “hangover cure”. (Not that I believe in that and yes, pun intended, thank you:) ) I’ve never heard of an “alcoholic’s breakfast.” I have heard of the “hair of the dog that bit you,” which means you wake up and drink exactly what you were drinking when you passed out. And so far as I know, the traditional hangover cure is raw eggs, tomato juice, and Tabasco sauce. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Excellent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f19dbf/32.png) [@Mr.Excellent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Excellent)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2011, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/raw-eggs-in-beer-safety/588528/16 "2011-07-11T14:26:39Z")
> [@lazybratsche](#): > > Frankly you’re probably taking a bigger risk every time you get in your car. Especially if you get in your car right after drinking that beer, egg or no egg. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2011, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/raw-eggs-in-beer-safety/588528/17 "2011-07-11T14:35:07Z")
Why don’t you go with a pickled egg with your beer? Just as traditional, and no risk of food poisoning at all. Risk of vomiting may be raised for some people, but that is an unrelated item. ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2011, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/raw-eggs-in-beer-safety/588528/18 "2011-07-11T14:40:34Z")
It would seem the point of the cure is to get some protein back in your system (always good during a hangover), plus “hair of the dog” (not that it’s ever made me feel better personally, but I hear it works for some people). Seems like a more effective solution would be to cook the eggs and eat them, with the beer on the side (although preferably, orange juice would be better). ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2011, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/raw-eggs-in-beer-safety/588528/19 "2011-07-11T15:35:22Z")
> [@AnalogSignal](#): > > Not safe because of the risk of Salmonella bacteria. Not perfectly safe, but the odds a US egg is infected with Salmonella is something on the level of [1 in 20,000](http://www.incredibleegg.org/egg-facts/egg-safety/eggs-and-food-safety). I enjoy raw eggs from time to time, but there is a minuscule risk involved. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2011, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/raw-eggs-in-beer-safety/588528/20 "2011-07-11T15:40:18Z")
Sounds about as appealing as Clamato juice in beer. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/raw-eggs-in-beer-safety/588528.md?page=2)