National Eggnog Month – Make It Safely! – (2024)

FAQs

What makes eggnog safe to drink? ›

Use pasteurized eggs for eggnog

Eggnog may be safely made at home by using whole, liquid or pasteurized eggs. Pasteurized eggs are found next to regular eggs at the store. Egg substitutes can also be used. These products have also been pasteurized.

Eggnog may not be considered a "health food," but the drink does have some nutritional benefits including certain vitamins and protein. Traditional eggnog is also high in sugar and fat, and for that reason, it's best to drink in moderation as a dessert.

“The most recent estimates indicate that about three out of every 10,000 eggs is positive for salmonella,” Schaffner said. “This means the risk from any individual egg is low, but of course the more eggs you combine, the higher the risk.” Pasteurization is one of the keys to avoiding salmonella poisoning from eggnog.

Did it originate in France, Turkey or the United Kingdom? Answer: Eggnog was originally known as milk punch or egg milk punch and originated in the United Kingdom. The name "eggnog" is an American term that can be traced to the 1700's.

Traditionally made with eggs, cream, milk, and sugar, no one would say that eggnog is a healthy drink. Even a small serving can pack significant amounts of calories, fat, saturated fat, and added sugars. And then there's the fact that homemade eggnog made with raw eggs can be a food-poisoning risk.

Skip the eggnog

It can contain two things that may make you gassy: milk and alcohol. Milk is a direct source of sulfate. When you eat or drink high amounts of sulfate, the bacteria in your colon produce more gas, and it's not odorless. Alcohol can irritate your stomach, make you feel bloated, and cause discomfort.

Eggnog is loaded with saturated fat and sugar. It also has a significant amount of cholesterol, which you really can't do anything about since it's from the eggs. (And without the eggs in eggnog it would just be, well, nog.)

If you're unsure whether eggnog has gone off, give it a whiff, and check for these signs: lumpy texture. spoiled milk smell.

A concentration of at least 20% of alcohol (about the same amounts of alcoholic spirits and milk or cream), and refrigeration are recommended for safety.

The most common ingredients and foods that can cause diarrhea were identified in an article by Harvard Health Publishing. Drumroll, please: eggnog's main components — sugar, dairy and alcohol — are on the list. Rich, delicious foods like cream contain more fat and are slower to digest.

Should eggnog be refrigerated? ›

Cover and refrigerate.

The more liquor you add, the longer it will keep — non-alcoholic eggnog should be consumed within 1 day; eggnog with 1/2 to 1 cup of liquor will keep for several days; and eggnog with 1 1/2 cups of liquor will keep for several weeks and continue aging and thickening quite nicely.

The United States Department of Agriculture does not recommend eating raw shell eggs that are not cooked or undercooked due to the possibility that Salmonella bacteria may be present. However, homemade mayonnaise can be safely made if raw, in-shell pasteurized eggs or pasteurized egg products are used.

Another version attributes the name to American colonists who referred to thick drinks as "grogs" and eggnog as "egg-and-grog." By the time it appeared in print, the words were mashed together to create "eggnog" (sometimes "egg nogg" or "egg-nog").

While culinary historians debate its exact lineage, most agree eggnog originated from the early medieval Britain “posset,” a hot, milky, ale-like drink. By the 13th century, monks were known to drink a posset with eggs and figs.

The etymology of the word eggnog has old English origins, with “nog” meaning either a strong beer or a wooden cup. The word eggnog seems to derive from both these meanings with the presence of eggs and its strong, alcoholic ingredients.

Pasteurization was important because my young child might have wanted some eggnog, so it needed to be very safe. So I pasteurized the eggs by heating them a little at a time in the microwave, stirring, heating etc until they reached 145F.

Information. Pasteurized shell eggs are heated in warm water baths using controlled time and temperature, to destroy any bacteria that might be present, but the process does not cook the eggs. Any process used for eggs in shell pasteurization has to be approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

The Food and Drug Administration suggests consuming commercial eggnog within three to five days of opening a carton, and you should drink homemade eggnog within two to four days of making. If you're unsure whether eggnog has gone off, give it a whiff, and check for these signs: lumpy texture. spoiled milk smell.