Egg Substitutes Work Well In Most Recipes

Have you given up homemade mayonnaise forever? Have you forsaken eggnog? Does the prospect of Caesar salad make you a little queasy (and I'm not talking about the anchovies)?

What these dishes have in common is that they all are made with raw eggs. For many Americans, the threat of salmonella has made the idea of eating raw eggs, however disguised, as tantalizing as week-old sushi.

Fortunately, there are a whole slew of egg substitutes that can bring back those favorite dishes without a major sacrifice in taste. And in many instances, these substitutes provide a bonus of lower - sometimes no - fat.

An expanding market

Egg substitutes aren't new. In fact, this year, Egg Beaters, the original egg substitute, celebrates its 20th anniversary. But just in the past few years Egg Beaters, which controls 47 percent of the market, has been joined by numerous other egg substitutes. Even Safeway has weighed in with its own brand under the Lucerne label.

Egg substitutes are a $129 million-a-year business that is expected to triple in the next three years. So popular have egg substitutes become that some brands have moved out of the frozen food case and into the refrigerated section.

Why the hubbub over raw eggs and salmonella? Salmonella enteritidis, the bacteria transmitted through chickens, can cause salmonellosis, an illness manifested by abdominal cramps, fever, headaches, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. It can be severe, even fatal, in people whose immune systems are weakened by AIDS or cancer, age or pregnancy.

Salmonella enteritidis most often occurs in restaurants and other areas of the food-service sector. That's because one of the primary ways eggs can become infected is by "pooling," or combining large quantities of eggs, usually more than a dozen. These large quantities may be contaminated by egg shells - where most of salmonella enteritidis reside.

Few reported cases of salmonella enteritidis have been linked to home egg use, however. Nationwide, salmonella enteritidis outbreaks reported to the U.S. Department of Agriculture have declined from a peak of 77 in 1989 to 55 last year.

So what's a consumer to do?

That's where egg substitutes come in.

What's in egg substitutes? Egg whites, mostly, up to 99 percent in the case of Egg Beaters and 98 percent with Healthy Choice. (The other brands - Lucerne, Second Nature and Scramblers - didn't specify.) After that it varies. Most have some kind of food starch or vegetable gum. Some have nonfat milk. And all have some kind of coloring such as beta carotene or annatto. Egg Beaters has only vegetable gum and beta carotene in addition to egg whites.

Though salmonella is rarely present in egg whites, egg substitutes are pasteurized to kill any possibility of bacteria.

Some companies, such as Ener-G-Foods in Seattle - (800) 331-5222 - offer powdered egg whites that can be reconstituted for meringues. The drying process eliminates the salmonella bacteria.

Comparing nutrients

From a nutritional standpoint, Egg Beaters has 25 calories and zero grams of fat for a 1/4-cup serving. For similar serving sizes, Healthy Choice and Lucerne have 30 calories and less than a gram of fat; Scramblers 35 calories and zero fat; and Second Nature, 40 calories and zero fat.

Each quarter-cup of egg substitute is equal to one whole egg. Whole eggs contain 150 calories and 10 grams of fat.

Simply Eggs, on the other hand, is liquid whole eggs combined with salt, citric acid, calcium, vitamin A and thiamine. Since the eggs have been pasteurized, they are as safe to use as egg substitutes. Cholesterol is significantly less than regular eggs - 45 mg vs. 215 mg - but fat and calories are virtually the same.

The color of the products varies, too. Egg Beaters look like lemon curd. Lucerne and Second Nature are somewhat paler, Scramblers paler still. Healthy Choice is a dead ringer for egg yolks. And Simply Eggs has a beige hue.

I used these egg products in a number of dishes, from Caesar salad to spaghetti carbonara. In a blind taste test, I don't think anyone would have noticed. I also baked with them, making tasty Mexican corn muffins and, with skim milk, a delicious low-fat flan.

But you can't exchange egg substitutes for real eggs in every recipe. For example, dishes that require separated eggs such as souffles or mousses won't work with egg substitutes. You also can't use substitutes when recipes call for more than three eggs. (But you can use liquid whole eggs.)

I also compared the egg substitutes against each other in the simplest way possible, scrambled with only butter and salt. Simply Eggs was the richest in flavor. But among the egg substitutes, Scramblers was the closest to true egg flavor. It also smelled the most like real eggs as it cooked in the pan.

Egg Beaters came in second. Healthy Choice, Lucerne and Second Nature were almost indistinguishable in taste. Not bad, but not terrific either. Lucerne had a spongier, grainier texture and looked the most like "fake" eggs.

When using substitutes in scrambled eggs, it's best to keep them a bit loose. Remember, no need to worry about undercooking causing salmonella. Minced chives or scallions and fresh herbs help immeasurably.