Drinking Egg Whites from Carton - Safe?

[Wolfex]

I currently buy egg whites that come in the carton and usually I heat them up in a pan to make them like scrambled eggs. I've been told multiple times to never eat raw eggs but are egg whites that come in the cartons safe to drink?

Thanks.

[in10city]

I currently buy egg whites that come in the carton and usually I heat them up in a pan to make them like scrambled eggs. I've been told multiple times to never eat raw eggs but are egg whites that come in the cartons safe to drink?

Thanks.

Pasteurized egg whites are safe to drink but suffer the same digestiblity drawback as raw egg whites.

[x-ray vision]

Pasteurized egg whites are safe to drink but suffer the same digestiblity drawback as raw egg whites.

Right. If you're having your eggs raw, you're not getting as much digestible protein as if they were cooked.

The true ileal digestibility of cooked and raw egg protein amounted to 90.9 +/- 0.8 and 51.3 +/- 9.8%, respectively. A significant negative correlation (r = -0.92, P < 0.001) was found between the 13C-recovery in breath and the recovery of exogenous N in the ileal effluents. In summary, using the 15N-dilution technique we demonstrated that the assimilation of cooked egg protein is efficient, albeit incomplete, and that the true ileal digestibility of egg protein is significantly enhanced by heat-pretreatment.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9772141

[whiskers1978]

I currently buy egg whites that come in the carton and usually I heat them up in a pan to make them like scrambled eggs. I've been told multiple times to never eat raw eggs but are egg whites that come in the cartons safe to drink?

Thanks.

That, and you're relying on a process performed by a sector that has far too many cases of screwing up (ecoli, salmonilla). It is too much a risk for the gain. The cooked vs. raw debate above is very interesting. I had no idea.

[x-ray vision]

That, and you're relying on a process performed by a sector that has far too many cases of screwing up (ecoli, salmonilla).

What sector is that? I know of no screw ups by any "sector" (or anyone else) when it comes to bringing salmonella free, pasteurized eggs to supermarket shelves.

It is too much a risk for the gain.

The risk of acquiring salmonella from using raw eggs (a requirement in some recipes) that have been pasteurized is virtually nonexistent.

The cooked vs. raw debate above is very interesting. I had no idea.

No debate- the facts are the facts.

[Wolfex]

[QUOTE=x-ray vision;425122561]Right. If you're having your eggs raw, you're not getting as much digestible protein as if they were cooked.

Interesting, because I've been told and read alot about how cooking meats and other animal products lessens the amount of nutrition found within them. Could you explain why foods that are cooked acquire better nutritional value than if left raw?

[x-ray vision]

I've been told and read alot about how cooking meats and other animal products lessens the amount of nutrition found within them.

Be careful of your sources. Raw food fanatics give out inaccurate information and only tell part of the story (IME).

Could you explain why foods that are cooked acquire better nutritional value than if left raw?

It's not true with all foods. It's true in eggs because the protein structure becomes more digestible when raw egg protein is heated. I don't know the science behind how this happens.

[in10city]

Could you explain why foods that are cooked acquire better nutritional value than if left raw?

In the case of egg whites, it hasn't been fully elucidated why cooked is better but it's thought to be possibly from denaturing trypsin/proteinase inhibitor(s) and/or from changes in the protein structure that allow greater access of or reduced stability in the presense of digestive enzymes - such is the case with ovalbumin, the most prevalent protein, and its disulfide bonds.

[BenJelly]

eh just throw em in the microwave not worth the risk