Are kids safe to eat half cooked eggs?

An egg for breakfast is a great start of a day because eggs contain multiple nutrients like proteins, vitamins, healthy fats, and minerals with just relatively few calories. However, how you store and cook the eggs can damage the nutrients and even have side effects. For example, it’s never a good idea to serve your child an egg that is half cooked, because that may cause food poisoning.

Eggs and salmonella

Eggs sometimes carry a germ called salmonella, which is the culprit that causes nausea, diarrhea, headache, vomiting, abdominal cramps, and others. In most cases, these symptoms will disappear within a week, but some people may develop severe health problems and need antibiotics to help to fight against the bacteria. Many adults are fine after eating half-cooked eggs, but it’s better not to serve them to young children, pregnant women, and those with a compromised immune system.

Ways to avoid food poisoning

So, in order to avoid being affected by salmonella, you first need to make sure that the eggs you buy are clean and the shells not cracked. Or, you can just buy pasteurized eggs for convenience. Store the eggs in the refrigerator after purchase, and use them within three weeks.

Cook eggs until the egg white and the yolk turn firm. If you make dishes that contain eggs, you should make sure the temperature reaches 160 degrees Fahrenheit so that the heat is high enough to kill the bacteria. The cooked eggs and egg-containing dishes should be consumed immediately. Don’t leave them at room temperature (from 40°F to 140°F), as the bacteria grow the fastest within that range.

Tips to cook healthy eggs

To maximize the nutrition, you can choose to boil the eggs. Or just fry them in an oil that won’t oxidize easily and form free radicals, such as extra virgin olive oil and coconut oil. Half cooked eggs are dangerous for kids, but that doesn’t mean it is good to overcook them. When overcooking the eggs, the sulfur in the whites will combine with the hydrogen and form hydrogen sulfide, a toxic gas that is bad for your health. And because cooking just means heating up the eggs, the hydrogen sulfide will further be forced inwards to the yolk. That is exactly why you’ll notice a layer of green tint outside the yolk.

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