The Pink Stilettos

I LOVE eggs. So very much. Scrambled, poached, sunnyside up, boiled, in omelettes, in sandwiches, in nasi goreng, in char kuew teow, in nasi lemak... the list goes on. And I especially love when the yolk is still runny. Yum!

Yeah I know, eating runny yolks may cause food poisoning bla bla, especially for pregnant moms, babies and young children. I was actually crushed when I first found out that preggers should stay away from partially cooked eggs because I love my eggs that way!

So I thought I'd have to wait 9 months before I can eat eggs with runny yolks again, until recently when I attended the Safegg Healthy Living event. Yup it's about eggs, but not just any ordinary eggs.

It's about pasteurized eggs.

"Don't play-play, I'm not an ordinary egg okay!"

The event was held at Hilton KL and there was a talkshow which was mainly about educating the public about pasteurized eggs and their benefits as well as health aspects.

Yes that's a 5-inch heels I'm wearing, and yes I'm pregnant.
At least wearing high-heel is safer than eating raw food during pregnancy! ;p

Speech by Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Agro-Based Industry,
YB Datuk Hajjah Rohani Haji Abdul Karim.

The talk was really interesting and I learned a lot from it. Did you know that every egg is born dirty? Well ok maybe you do, just like when human beings are born - covered in blood and whatnot. But even the clean ones (eggs, I mean) are still contaminated with blood, feathers, soil, even droppings (eww!) that could penetrate the eggshells and may be breeding grounds for Salmonella!

In case you don't know, Salmonella is a bacterium that causes food poisoning with symptoms like fever, diarrhea, vomiting, nausea, abdominal cramps and headaches. It can contaminate eggs at any stage - from laying, packaging, transportation and storage, as Salmonella bacteria can double in numbers every 20 minutes at temperatures between 30-40 degrees Celsius.

If you like poached eggs, runny egg yolks or any eggs that are partially cooked, then you might want to consider eating pasteurized eggs. SaFegg are bacteria-free eggs and it's actually the only pasteurized eggs available in Malaysia.

Don't worry, pasteurized eggs taste just as good as the normal unpasteurized ones. They even look the same on the outside.

On the left is a normal unpasteurized egg, and on the right is SaFegg.

There is a way to distinguish a pasteurized egg from the normal one tho; by cracking it up. Normal egg has a translucent white, while pasteurized egg has a cloudy appearance of the white.

And good news for me (and fellow preggers and children too), the SaFegg is safe to be eaten partially cooked - runny yolk, poached, half-boiled, whatever. It's even safe to eat them raw if you want!

Anyway, the event was followed by a live cooking demonstration using SaFegg...

...and some refreshments as well. Honestly when I read "refreshments" in the event itinerary, I thought they were just going to serve tidbits and light snacks. I wasn't expecting a buffet lunch - at Hilton! :)