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:
“It is not stressful circumstances, as such, that do harm to children. Rather, it is the quality of their interpersonal relationships and their transactions with the wider social and material environment that lead to behavioral, emotional, and physical health problems. If stress matters, it is in terms of how it influences the relationships that are important to the child.”
—Felton Earls (20th century)
“Do you want me to tell you something really subversive? Love is everything it’s cracked up to be. That’s why people are so cynical about it.... It really is worth fighting for, being brave for, risking everything for. And the trouble is, if you don’t risk anything, you risk even more.”
—Erica Jong (b. 1942)