Home Egg Challenge
Information for patients
NHS Lanarkshire Neonatal
PIL.HOMEGG.98937.L
If your doctor or Dietitian has advised a home egg challenge then the following table is a guide to what is classed as well cooked egg, lightly cooked egg and raw egg.
|    Well Cooked Egg     | Loosely Cooked Egg |  Raw Egg |
| Cakes (sponge) |
Meringues (homemade) Mayonnaise bought (Shop bought), Salad cream |
Fresh mousse (most supermarket brands are egg free) |
| Biscuits (some) | Lemon Curd | Fresh mayonnaise (jars of mayonnaise contains pasteurised egg and egg yolk) |
| Dried pasta and egg noodles | Quiche | Some ice creams, especially fresh and deluxe types |
| Sausage, meatballs etc containing egg | Scrambled egg | Some sorbets |
| Fresh boiled pasta for over 10 minutes | Boiled egg | Royal icing (both fresh and powdered royal icing) |
| Egg glaze on pastry | Fried egg | Horseradish sauce |
| Sponge fingers | Omelette | Tartare sauce |
| Quorn products | Poached egg | Raw egg in cake mix and other dishes awaiting cooking |
| Gravy granules (if they contain egg) | Egg in batter | Some cheeses if they contain egg white lysozyme or other egg proteins |
| Shop bought frozen yorkshire puddings | Homemade products where egg is used to make bread crumbs stick to fish/chicken | Â |
| Manufactured meringues (shop bought) | Hollandaise sauce (shop bought) | Homemade marzipan |
| Manufactured (shop bought) pancakes or Scotch pancakes | Egg Custard and custard tarts | Â |
| Chocolate bars which contain nougat or dried egg eg Milky Way or Mars Bar | Homemade pancakes and Yorkshire pudding – especially those that contain any ‘sticky’ batter inside | Â |
| Chewitts | Bread & Butter pudding | Â |
| Fondant icing eg Cadbury Creme Egg | Creme brulee | Â |
| Â | Creme caramel | Â |
| Â | Tunnocks teacake and some marshmallows | Â |
| Waffles | Tempura batter | Â |
Always check food labels as ingredients can change.
If your child has been avoiding all products with egg in them then start with stage one of the challenge. If they are tolerating well-cooked egg in foods, then go straight to stage two.
A good starting point for a well cooked egg challenge is to make a ‘one egg sponge cake’ followed by a ‘two egg sponge cake’ at a later date (see recipe on page 6).
Egg Challenge Stage One:
- Start with a ‘one egg sponge cake’ recipe and make into eight fairy cakes.
- Rub a small amount of a fairy cake on the lower lip. Wait ten minutes before moving to the next step.
- If there are no signs of an allergic reaction, continue by giving your child a crumb sized amount to eat. Wait fifteen minutes before the next step.
- Increase the amount at each stage by double, for example, a crumb to a pea sized, to a teaspoon size until your child is managing a whole fairy cake.
- Now try a fairy cake using a ‘two egg sponge cake’.
Now your child can tolerate well cooked egg, you can incorporate the foods from the well cooked egg section of the table into your child’s diet. Proceed to the stage two challenge once your child has been eating well cooked egg as a part of their regular diet for six months or more.
Egg Challenge Stage Two:
- Use Scrambled egg, French toast or crumble up a hard- boiled egg. Touch your child’s lower lip with a crumb and wait ten minutes before moving on to step two.
- If no signs of an allergic reaction occur continue by giving your child a crumb of the egg to eat, wait fifteen minutes before moving on to the next step.
- Gradually increase the amount of egg given, leaving fifteen minutes in between each step. Start with ¼ teaspoon, then ½ teaspoon, one teaspoon, two tablespoons.
- If your child is symptom free then continue to gradually add loosely cooked egg to your child’s diet.
If the stage two challenge fails and your child has a mild/moderate reaction, then try again in six months; but in the meantime, continue to include well cooked egg (as per the chart above) in their diet regularly.
For more information contact Wishaw Dietetics 01698 366188 or Community Dietetics 01698 201440.
Basic sponge cake recipe
Ingredients
- 100g (4oz) margarine
- 100g (4oz) caster sugar
- 100g (4oz) Self raising flour
- 1 – 2 eggs
- Heat oven to 190 degrees C or 375 degrees F, Gas Mark 5.
- Cream margarine and sugar together until light and fluffy.
- Beat in 1 egg or 2 eggs, one at a time, gradually adding a little flour.
- Gently fold in remaining flour.
- Half fill paper cases with mixture and bake for 15 minutes until firm.
Contact details
For more information contact:
- Wishaw Dietetics 01698 366188 or
- Community Dietetics 01698 201440
Pub. date: March 2022
Review date: March 2024
Issue No: 06
Reference: PIL.HOMEGG.98937.L
22_00528
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