A recent crackdown on the use of raw eggs in a bar in New York by a local health inspector opened a can of worms in the bar world. The thought of removing such favorites as Pisco Sours, Eggnog and Flips from the Cocktail Lists of the city’s bars was almost too much to handle.

Fortunately it looks as if the crackdown is being scaled back (for now at least), no doubt in part due to the backlash,  however the victim of a recent bust, Pegu Club in SoHo, has stopped serving its MarTEAni, a drink featuring egg whites to balance out tannin-infused gin, after a health inspector issued the bar a citation and summons to court for serving the drink without checking to make sure the patron knew he was exposing himself to salmonella.

Is this really the worst thing that a customer is being exposed to when they dine out? Having worked on both sides of the bar and kitchen, I’d be less worried about the contents of a sealed shell, than the food handling procedures in some of the kitchens I’ve seen.

It would be a shame for this age-old ingredient to be removed from use due to a technicality. It appears that the bar in question listed egg as an ingredient on the menu but because the patron had ordered without seeing the menu, the inspector pounced…!

Let’s worry about more serious health concerns. It ain’t the egg that will kill us.