Pasteurization keeps eggs bacteria-free.

Chocolate chip cookie dough and sunny-side-up eggs may be back on the menu thanks to Purdue University researchers who have developed a way of pasteurizing eggs in the shell to kill Salmonella enteritidis. That bacteria may cause no more than an upset stomach for most people, but can be life-threatening for small children, the elderly, pregnant women, and anyone with a weak immune system. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) estimates that 2-4,000,000 cases of salmonellosis occur in the U.S. annually.

Because Salmonella enteritidis can infect a chicken's ovaries, eggs are contaminated before they are laid. The bacteria get packaged with the egg yolk when the white and shell form around it. The FDA points out refrigerating eggs below 40[degrees]F limits...