Raw eggs and salmonella

[Warrigal]

I am in the middle of a baking frenzy as I make batch after batch of cup cakes for our church cake stall this weekend. As I have never really left my childhood behind, I lick the bowl and beaters every time I finish a batch. I know that the batter contains raw egg but that never deters me. Nor does it prevent me from enjoying a very occasional egg nog. I am careful not to allow raw chicken meat to contaminate any other food in my fridge though.

Am I dicing with death here by licking the bowl or could my early exposure to our own hens and Mum's sponge cake batter have conferred immunity to a low level of salmonella bacteria?

 

[Carla]

I am in the middle of a baking frenzy as I make batch after batch of cup cakes for our church cake stall this weekend. As I have never really left my childhood behind, I lick the bowl and beaters every time I finish a batch. I know that the batter contains raw egg but that never deters me. Nor does it prevent me from enjoying a very occasional egg nog. I am careful not to allow raw chicken meat to contaminate any other food in my fridge though.

Am I dicing with death here by licking the bowl or could my early exposure to our own hens and Mum's sponge cake batter have conferred immunity to a low level of salmonella bacteria?

Yes, I think we all have. There seemed to be a lot less contamination back then. There are risks with a lot of foods, not just eggs. When I think back to when I first was married (and a new cook) I wonder how I didn't poison myself then!

 

[SeaBreeze]

My mother used to sneak a raw egg in my chocolate milk now and then as a kid, hoping I wouldn't notice. I still wouldn't worry too much about licking spoons and beaters, even eat some raw ground beef now and then when I'm making hamburgers. I think I'm immune to all this in my old age, and that's okay with me.

 

[NancyNGA]

We have probably all built up immunities for things like that over the years by eating things like that and licking beaters.