Can you eat raw eggs?
The Real Answer
Yes, you can eat raw eggs, but there's a food safety risk. Raw eggs can contain Salmonella bacteria, which causes severe food poisoning. The risk is relatively low in the US due to testing requirements, but it's not zero. Pregnant people, young children, elderly people, and immunocompromised individuals should definitely avoid them. Most healthy adults who eat raw eggs don't get sick, but some will.
You're making a choice to consume something that might actively be trying to kill you, and your main defense is 'well, probably not.' Most people won't get food poisoning from raw eggs, which is how we've all agreed to gamble with our digestive systems before breakfast.
Why People Ask This
This question usually comes up right after someone eats raw cookie dough or a runny egg yolk and suddenly realizes what they just put in their mouth. People also wonder because certain cuisines use raw eggs regularly (Japanese, Italian), which creates cognitive dissonance — if other countries do it safely, why is it a big deal here?