Karen Penner, extension specialist and professor of foods and nutrition at Kansas State University, has some food safety advice to keep you healthy through the holiday season. The easiest way to have egg nog is to buy it in the carton, and it's already pasteurized. If you make your own egg nog at home, use only pasteurized eggs, not raw eggs in the egg nog.
Raw eggs can contain harmful bacteria that if consumed can cause salmonella infection.
It is a real temptation to dip into cookie dough. Most people don't get sick from eating the dough, but it does contain raw eggs. Young children and elderly people should particularly be cautious about eating raw eggs, because they are more susceptible to food-borne illnesses. Custard-type pies, including homemade pumpkin pie, need to be refrigerated. Sometimes people run out of refrigeration space if they are having a crowd of people over for dinner.