Should Kids eat the Zebra Domes?

[Tricia1972]

I inquired at Narcoosee's on my trip and they would not guarantee that the eggs used for Caesar Dressing were pasteurized. This is Disney and they do purchase food via food service.

Not everyone has to be concerned about raw or undercooked eggs and if they are pasteurized or not, but if you have reason to be concerned, then you should personally ask the chef versus trusting a message board.

 

[apostolic4life]

I inquired at Narcoosee's on my trip and they would not guarantee that the eggs used for Caesar Dressing were pasteurized. This is Disney and they do purchase food via food service.

Not everyone has to be concerned about raw or undercooked eggs and if they are pasteurized or not, but if you have reason to be concerned, then you should personally ask the chef versus trusting a message board.

And that answer is the one I would expect from any corporate entity. The liability with making such a guarantee could be costly if a chef decided to use unpasteurized eggs for some reason. The only time we make guarantees about ingredients in a dish is if we are 100% positive about the origin of said ingredients. An example would be if I am using graham crackers to make a crust for a pie I will not be able to guarantee they were made in a nut free environment, so therefore, I would not be able to positively tell someone the pie was free of nuts or nut products. The same goes for eggs, if the person using the eggs is not sure where they came from and how they are processed then they will not be able to issue a guarantee as to the safety of the eggs.

My goal here is not to prove anyone wrong, but rather share my personal knowledge and experience (not second hand information). I am not sure why you have made it a personal point to try to discredit me, but rest assured, I do not need affirmation from anyone here. Food is not just a hobby for me, it is something I have built a career on and is a passion for me. I have worked in the industry long enough to know the whats and whys of my craft. I also know based on my experience that food warnings are not issued to protect the consumer.....they are issued to protect the company from future legal liability.

I agree whole heartedly if you have a concern about the food it is your duty to ask for information from the people preparing it, but do not be surprised if you receive an answer meant to protect the company from liability vs. honest discussion about your concerns. If you were in my restaurant I would give you the standard warnings to cover my backside legally, but here on the message board I feel freer to discuss all aspects of a topic since there is no legal liability on my part. On the message board I can speak from the heart, not from behind legal protections.

 

[Tricia1972]

I am not attacking anyone. Nor am I trying to discredit anyone. However, I stand behind my statement from earlier today.

Not everyone has to be concerned about raw or undercooked eggs and if they are pasteurized or not, but if you have reason to be concerned, then you should personally ask the chef versus trusting a message board.

I believe this to be true of any food allergy or sensitivity, and if you have an allergy or sensitivity - you should ask about it every time you go to the restaurant. Restaurants can change from day to day, chef to chef, and companies can change their food suppliers at anytime.

 

[sandym718]

All eggs sold in the country are pasteurized (unless you go to a local farmers market

This is absolutely incorrect. MOST eggs sold in most grocery stores (here in NE Ohio at least) are unpasteurized. I just looked at my latest purchase to confirm- this is from a large chain grocery store with stores in several states and it is their store brand egg. This is the "brand" that there are tons and tons of packages of on the shelf. They are UNpasteurized. They specifically say to cook before consuming. For the local consumer at a grocery store - unless they specifically say pasteurized, one must assume they are Not, and act accordingly if that is a danger to one's situation. I do not know about the food industry at all, so I obviously cannot comment to that, but the above statement is just not correct.

I've never had zebra domes, but they sure sound good!!

 

[apostolic4life]

This is absolutely incorrect.

When a single line of my entire paragraph is taken out of the context it was written it looks as though I made an incorrect statement, but I was speaking in context to the food service industry./here is exactly what I said:

This is the USA......you can't get unpasteurized eggs for foodservice. All eggs sold in the country are pasteurized (unless you go to a local farmers market), and I highly doubt the chef is bringing in the eggs his chickens lay in the back yard for his zebra dome recipe.

MOST eggs sold in most grocery stores (here in NE Ohio at least) are unpasteurized. I just looked at my latest purchase to confirm- this is from a large chain grocery store with stores in several states and it is their store brand egg. This is the "brand" that there are tons and tons of packages of on the shelf. They are UNpasteurized. They specifically say to cook before consuming. For the local consumer at a grocery store - unless they specifically say pasteurized, one must assume they are Not, and act accordingly if that is a danger to one's situation.

This is interesting to me.......I volunteered as a food marshal for a church camp located on the Ohio River in Pt. Pleasant, WV this past summer and changed the camp's food vender from a small local food purveyor across the river in Ohio to a national food distributor located in WV. The smaller local guy in Ohio carried unpasteurized eggs as well. I asked him to get me pasteurized eggs and he said it would cost me 50 cents more a dozen since he normally did not carry them. I chalked it up to his operation being small, and switched to the national guy so I could get my eggs pasteurized and cheaper. There may be differences in the requirements for eggs from state to state, but the national vendors I have used over my career have never even offered unpasteurized eggs (for food service industry) because of the chain of liability if they provided a contaminated product. I will have to let my parents who recently moved to Ohio know to look specifically for pasteurized eggs because my father has some health issues and has taken for granted over the years here in WV all the eggs at Wal-Mart, Kroger, Foodland, etc. are all pasteurized unless specifically marked to the contrary. As for the warning on the egg carton, even pasteurized eggs carry the generic warning about eating raw or undercooked eggs being potentially dangerous; same for menus, they all warn you about eggs and beef just so the restaurant has some legal cover.

I do not know about the food industry at all, so I obviously cannot comment to that, but the above statement is just not correct.

In proper context my statement is absolutely correct.

I've never had zebra domes, but they sure sound good!!

To get back on the topic of the OP, you should try them. Zebra Domes are pretty good if you like mousse and the flavor of Kahlua.
A few warnings first: they could potentially carry salmonella from being made with uncooked eggs which may or may not be pasteurized; they contain sugar so please do not eat if you have blood glucose issues; if you have allergies to nuts or nut products please do not eat zebra domes due to the fact some ingredients may have come into contact with nuts (the kind you eat not the kind that need straight jackets); vegans please refrain from eating zebra domes (no, they are not made of zebra) as they contain gelatin which may be made from animal products (which I guess could be zebra???); chocoholic, alcoholics, and coffee fiends should refrain from eating zebra domes since the ingredients found in this product could potentially spark you into cravings and addiction; those with family history of heart disease may wish to enjoy zebra domes vicariously trough others since the heavy cream may lead to heart attack or clogged arteries.

Did I cover all the potentially dangerous things associated with zebra domes?? Well, if not then sue me!!!!

 

[Tricia1972]

For those interested, the main name brand given to me for pasteurizing their eggs was Davidson. This is the info given to me by the egg council board (referenced earlier in this thread)

On Davidson's website is a list of where their eggs are sold to consumers in the US. This is not inclusive of food service, but may be helpful if you need pasteurized eggs and want to try making Zebra Domes at home!

http://www.safeeggs.com/storelocator-30c.html

 

[sandym718]

I sure do hope to try them someday!

But I still think your statement is incorrect, in that you say that ALL eggs sold in the country (other than farmers market) are pasteurized. That statement in itself does NOT refer to the food industry, though the chef/chicken portion of the sentence does (but doesn't refer to stores). Maybe it should read "all eggs sold to the food industry are pasteurized" -that may be correct. I did read your entire post, and did not mean to take anything out of context by not quoting all of it. I felt that the rest of the post may very well be correct but this is not. I think to the average reader, that sentence - even the entire thing as you quoted, indicates that ALL U.S. grocery stores sell only pasteurized eggs and that is obviously not the case.

Not trying to be nitpicky or start a fight at all. I definitely bow to your knowledge of the food industry!! I think sometimes we say or type things and they don't come out quite as we mean. I see other posters here who thought you were saying the same thing, so it seems the sentence is being intepreted that way by some at least. Normally- no big deal, and I certainly hope No One gets their health info here at the DIS, LOL, but I think it should just be put out there that not ALL eggs in U.S. grocery stores (and in some cases, very few eggs in many stores) are pasteurized, and thus need to be treated safely.

 

[wen774]

I sure do hope to try them someday!

Maybe it should read "all eggs sold to the food industry are pasteurized" -that may be correct. .

Until recently I worked in the food industry as a chef and we did not use pasturized eggs. In fact, I have rarely ever even seen pasturized eggs in a restaurant kitchen. In the cases where pasturized eggs were used they were a liquid egg product in a carton.

 

[sandym718]

Until recently I worked in the food industry as a chef and we did not use pasturized eggs. In fact, I have rarely ever even seen pasturized eggs in a restaurant kitchen. In the cases where pasturized eggs were used they were a liquid egg product in a carton.

thanks for the info! As I said, I have no knowledge of the food industry at all, so I did not want to speak to that at all.


I will say - I think for any restaurant it would probably make the most sense to use pasteurized eggs/egg product OR to post a warning on the menu/at the buffet. I do believe I have seen this somewhere (not Disney) for Caesar dressing. Is there any sort of posting by Zebra Domes indicating either alcohol and/or raw eggs? I've never been there, but it sounds like common knowledge that they have alcohol so I'm guessing maybe that's posted?

 

[apostolic4life]

Is there any sort of posting by Zebra Domes indicating either alcohol and/or raw eggs? I've never been there, but it sounds like common knowledge that they have alcohol so I'm guessing maybe that's posted?

The last time we had dinner at Boma it was not posted (for eggs or alcohol). Often the posting is made at the bottom of printed menus in many restaurants that serve eggs and meats that are served raw or undercooked. Meringue desserts offered at the buffets should also fall into this discussion, but most people don't think of meringue as being raw egg. It has been about a year since we have been there for dinner, so has anyone seen a sign there recently?

This whole discussion has made me realize one thing; there are no set rules governing the use or availability of pasteurized or unpasteurized eggs. Seems the availability varies from state to state and possibly even from town to town in some states. I guess maybe I have taken the availability of pasteurized eggs for granted since the eggs supplied to us have always been pasteurized. The only definitive thing I can find in further researching the pasteurized vs. unpasteurized debate is handling procedures for both are identical.......at least HACCP protocols do not distinguish between pasteurized and unpasteurized. So, with that said, I guess this old dog is willing to learn a few new tricks........just not too many of them though!

 

[Pumbaa_]

So ends the great egg debate of 2008

(I had zebra domes 10 days ago. I want to go back! )

 

[apostolic4life]

So ends the great egg debate of 2008

Well, at least it remained civil!!!