Posted on 12/22/2008 4:12:03 PM PST by Shermy
With one in every 20,000 eggs contaminated with Salmonella bacteria, drinking homemade eggnog can be something of a gamble. But an experiment designed to test whether the alcohol in spiked eggnog can kill the deadly bugs suggests that, in general, few bacteria survive in a mixture containing both raw eggs and 20 percent rum and bourbon.
The experiment, which was done by Rockefeller University professor Vincent A. Fischetti at the request of National Public Radio’s Science Friday program, compared the bacteria found in homemade alcoholic eggnog with those found in store-bought nonalcoholic nog. After culturing samples of both solutions and incubating them for 24 hours at 37 degrees Celsius — body temperature — Fischetti and his colleagues found that while the store-bought product was teeming with a range of bacteria, the homemade version was completely sterile.
“The bacteria we observed in the grocery-store product are likely harmless normal bacteria that are found in all dairy products,” says Fischetti, who is head of the Laboratory of Bacterial Pathogenesis and Immunology. “In fact, they were probably in the cream and other products we used when we made our eggnog but were killed by the alcohol.”
When the scientists performed the same experiment but added a heavy dose of Salmonella bacteria, the results were inconclusive. “In our 24-hour time frame, the alcohol in the eggnog did not kill all the bacteria, but we used 1,000 times more Salmonella than what you might encounter in a contaminated egg,” Fischetti says.
“In order to authoritatively say that spiked eggnog is either safe or unsafe, we’d have to repeat the experiment under a range of more realistic conditions,” he says. “We’d probably need a grant.”
Provided by Rockefeller University
So who got to dispose of the (hic!) “feedstock?”
“We’d probably need a grant.”
Bottom line.
Taxpayers, ante up!
Whatever happened to combating disease and making the world a better place and stuff like that?
This is more someone’s high-school science project.
“...20 percent rum and bourbon.”
I’m going for 40% just to be on the safe side. :”)
I’m offering to..... hic...... help these important scientists...... hic........ with their “research” ...... hic....... especially during this ...... hic ...... festive holiday season.
What they also are not telling us is how likely any particluar GRADE of egg is to be contaminated.
I suspect that the low grade eggs commercial bakers & food conglomerates put into their prepared products are much more likely to be contaminated than the Grade AA & Grade A cartons on the store shelves.
Also, I would like to see a definition of "contaminated": as in some stray bacteria; or colony counts high enough to pose a significant and real risk to healthy individuals?
A little off topic, but if there’s any southern U.S. Freepers about tonight - what the heck is “southern boiled custard”? My local grocery store is carrying it by the half-gallon, right next to the eggnog. Is it sort of the same thing as ‘nog, or something else?
Interesting. What determines if an egg makes the A grade?
Increase content to 25%.
Grading is a form of quality control used to divide a variable commodity or product into a number of classes. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) standards for quality of individual shell eggs were developed on the basis of both interior and exterior quality factors. Commercially, eggs are graded simultaneously for exterior and interior quality. When determining the grade of an egg, the factor with the lowest grade will determine the overall grade of the egg. In the United States, egg grades include AA quality, A quality, B quality, and dirty. Only AA and A quality eggs are normally sold for supermarkets.
There are also "checks" and "loss".
BUT, in each carton or each 30 dozen case, there is an allowable percentage of lower grade eggs than the stamped grade.
Large = 24 oz/dozen Xl 27; Jumbo 30, so if the price is less than 10% more for the next size, it is cheaper/oz to get the larger size. Not any more eggs, but more actual weight of edible product.
Thanks—Freepers know everything!
LOL!
Or at least where to find it.
And if not, how to make it up as we go.
“southern boiled custard”
I had never heard it called that. Looking at the recipes online I would say it is just an egg custard. I don’t know what makes it especially “Southern”. Especially considering it doesn’t have butter in it! ;P
You found this at the supermarket? I love custard, but I never fine any outside of cafeterias and that isn’t the case anymore either. Perhaps us Texans don’t eat that much custard anymore so nobody sells it.
I’ve never had eggnog using raw eggs, and I make eggnog every year from scratch. The eggs are cooked into a custard, blended with milk, cooled and blended with more milk, whipped cream and spices. That’s the only kind I know and the only kind I keep in the house.
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