At first glance, a clean, unbroken egg seems rather harmless, but a smooth shell can hide some prickly foes.

In August 2025, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a multistate recall of brown eggs after nearly 100 people fell ill, 18 of whom were hospitalized with high-grade fevers, severe diarrhea, and a host of other ailments.

The culprit: a particularly persistent foodborne bacterium known as Salmonella Enteritidis. The microbe thrives in animal guts and raw meat, opportunistically scavenging on any nutrients it comes across and multiplies rapidly.