Is It Safe to Eat Eggs During a Bird Flu Outbreak? Here’s What to Know

If you can get your hands on a carton of eggs amidst recent shortages caused by the outbreak of the H5N1 virus, commonly referred to as bird flu, you might wonder if they’re safe to eat right now. The short answer is yes, especially if you fully cook your eggs.

Experts say that the likelihood of infected eggs making it to grocery shelves is very low due to stringent inspection of chicken flocks. There are also no reports of H5N1 infections in the U.S. from the consumption of infected poultry or eggs.

But how you prepare your eggs can affect your risk of any foodborne illness, including salmonella. Here’s everything you need to know, whether you’re cooking eggs for breakfast or making a dish that calls for raw eggs, like a Caesar salad or buttercream-frosted cake.

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What is the risk of eating fully cooked eggs during the bird flu outbreak?

“The likelihood that eggs from infected poultry are found in the retail market is low,” said the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in an email statement. “Properly cooking eggs is effective to destroy pathogens, including H5N1.”

A 2010 interagency risk assessment conducted by the FDA and the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) concluded that the risk of infection to humans from viruses like H5N1 through the consumption of contaminated shell eggs is low.

“The risk was considered low because infected hens become sick (or die) rapidly and cease laying eggs, and because of the safeguards in place, which include testing of flocks and federal inspection programs,” said the FDA.

Related: Does It Actually Matter If You Buy Brown or White Eggs?

“In the very unlikely scenario that an avian influenza-infected egg ended up in a consumer’s home, the virus would be destroyed by cooking it fully,” says Ellen Schumaker, PhD, director of outreach for NC State University Extension’s Safe Plates program.

“Even if a consumer is not fully cooking their eggs and consuming them raw [like in meringues or mayonnaise] or runny, I think the risk of avian flu would still be quite low, given the way that the pathway of infection works,” she says. “Avian influenza is a respiratory virus, and infection occurs [through inhalation] rather than through the digestive tract, like we see with viruses that cause foodborne illness (such as norovirus).”

How do you know an egg is fully cooked?

Every expert we spoke with considers salmonella to be a higher risk to consumers than H5N1. The USDA has estimated that one in 20,000 eggs is infected with salmonella. But the same measures that protect you from salmonella also protect you from other infections like H5N1.

The FDA and USDA suggest cooking eggs, or egg dishes, to an internal temperature of 160°F, while the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends 165°F to destroy pathogens that could cause infections like salmonella or H5N1. To check temperature, stick a food-safe thermometer into the thickest part of your egg dish or casserole. (Baked goods like cakes and cookies are safe after baking, but consumers should not eat the raw dough as a general practice.) You can also rely on visual indicators.

Related: These Are the Best Ways to Boil Eggs

“Eggs thicken at approximately 158°F, so no runniness is a good way to make that determination,” says Martin Bucknavage, senior extension program specialist, food safety and quality, at the Penn State Department of Food Science. That means hard-cooked scrambled eggs, or eggs with firm yolks and whites, such as hard-boiled eggs.

“It tends to mean hard-cooked eggs, three or four minutes per side, if you’re frying them to make sure that you’re killing any possible bacteria,” says James E. Rogers, PhD and director of product safety research and testing at Consumer Reports. Rogers spent more than a decade as a microbiologist for the FSIS.

What is the risk of eating runny or raw eggs?

What if you prefer a sunny-side up or soft-boiled egg? The FDA does not recommend consuming runny or raw eggs due to the risk posed by salmonella, but the risk remains very low for H5N1. The risk for salmonella is more considerable for at-risk populations, such as people with weakened immune systems or adults over 65.

Although there are no reports in the U.S. of people who contracted H5N1 from products like raw eggs or raw poultry, Rogers says there are a lot of unknowns around the current outbreak. “If this virus continues to expand in the United States, we don’t know what that risk is,” he says.

“If you are willing to accept some risk, then you can try runny eggs, if that's your preference. And so I’m not going to say don’t do it. I’m just saying be aware that the risk does go up,” says Rogers.

Related: 6 Egg Substitutes That Actually Work for Baking, Scrambles, Frittatas, and More

Are pasteurized eggs safer?

Pasteurized eggs are heated gently to destroy any bacteria, but the eggs are not fully cooked. Food safety experts stress that salmonella is a bigger risk than H5N1, but anything that will kill salmonella will also kill H5N1. You can find liquid pasteurized eggs or egg whites in the refrigerator section of the grocery store. You might also be able to find shell-in pasteurized eggs.

Technically, you can pasteurize eggs at home, but both Rogers and the FDA advise against it. The FDA tests all pasteurized egg products sold in the U.S. “They have a controlled process of doing it, and they can test the final product to make sure the process works,” Rogers says.

The FDA advises using pasteurized eggs in dishes or condiments that call for raw eggs. When it comes to baking, pasteurized egg whites can have a reputation for not whipping as well as unpasteurized egg whites. However, with some adjustments, they can be whipped into peaks for recipes like buttercream frosting.

Related: Here’s What You Need to Know About Buttercream

“Pasteurized egg whites actually do whip fine,” says professional baker Charlotte Rutledge, a former recipe testing and development manager for King Arthur Baking Company. “I think they’re perceived as being less stable when whipped because they are maybe more finicky, but all it takes to build the right structure is more acid (like vinegar, lemon juice, or cream of tartar) and more time. The acid stabilizes the air bubbles that form during whipping so that they don’t collapse, and increasing the whipping time ensures you get the right volume of air incorporated.”

When substituting pasteurized egg whites for fresh egg whites in a recipe, she recommends following the advice of noted cookbook author and baking instructor Rose Levy Berenbaum. Berenbaum says to add 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar (vinegar or lemon juice will also work) per each pasteurized egg white used. She also suggests adding several minutes to the whipping time.

“In recipes that don’t call for whipping the egg whites, you can substitute the pasteurized egg whites for the fresh egg whites one-for-one without modifications,” says Rutledge.

How to stay safe

“You can’t tell from the outside that an egg is contaminated,” says Rogers. “I tell people, don’t get panicked, but assume that there’s a potential for salmonella or, now, [H5N1] in the egg. Then take all the cooking precautions and suggestions that we’ve made before.”

All the experts that we spoke to recommend basic food safety processes, like washing your hands after handling eggs to avoid cross-contamination, and storing your eggs in the refrigerator at a temperature of 40°F or under. 

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