Health Risk
Royal icing is traditionally prepared with fresh egg whites. Although highly unlikely, there is a very small chance of salmonella poisoning from improperly stored and handled eggs. Particularly in the US where this concern is taken more seriously by public health officials, meringue powder or ready-to-use, pasteurized, refrigerated egg whites (wet eggs) can be used with similar results.
Of increasing concern in the western world is a rise in nut allergies. As royal icing is often used together with marzipan to decorate cakes, it is becoming increasingly common for these to be substituted with fondant.
Read more about this topic: Royal Icing
Famous quotes containing the words health and/or risk:
“We have two kinds of “conference.” One is that to which the office boy refers when he tells the applicant for a job that Mr. Blevitch is “in conference.” This means that Mr. Blevitch is in good health and reading the paper, but otherwise unoccupied. The other type of “conference” is bona fide in so far as it implies that three or four men are talking together in one room, and don’t want to be disturbed.”
—Robert Benchley (1889–1945)
“Kemmerick: He’s dead. He’s dead.
Katczinsky: Why did you risk your life bringing him in?
Kemmerick: But it’s Behm. My friend.
Katczinsky: It’s a corpse, no matter who it is.”
—Maxwell Anderson (1888–1959)