Health & Fitness: Another Bad Break for Eggs

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Experiments with eggs that have been deliberately infected have shown that frying them sunny-side up, without flipping them over, does not kill all the bacteria; the eggs had to be fried three minutes on each side. Other recipes also need altering, probably to the cook's despair: boiling requires seven minutes to ensure safety, poaching five, and omelets must be cooked until no liquid remains. Restaurateurs may balk at such guidelines. Says John Benson, of Manhattan's Mme. Romaine de Lyon, which offers 500 types of omelet: "I certainly can't make an omelet well done or dry unless it's at the customer's request." But if salmonellosis is not brought under control, customers may make that request -- or stop ordering eggs.