Controversy of home pickling eggs?

Lots of us have seen the old timers with big old jars full of pickled eggs.  Once I went down the road looking for methods/recipes and found it was kind of a controversial thing to do and that maybe those old systems always had some risk?  Has anyone fully grasped the risks or methods to alleviate those risks to be confident to regularly have pickled eggs on hand?

Hm. I never heard of a controversy. I always have pickled eggs on hand, have for many years.

What do they say is the problem?

I make sure of super cleanness at all steps, and using fully boiling good strong vinegar. Never had to throw any out. Never got sick.

Watching this thread, I'm curious.

And, incidentally, pickled eggs make the best egg salad sandwiches, especially the ones picked in curry spices  :D

I've never heard of a controversy either, I pickle eggs occasionally. What have you discovered Ryan?

I grew up in a family that loved pickled eggs.

I had an aunt who like to put them in beet juice and another who like them in pickle juice.

Recipes vary from the traditional brine solution for pickles, to other solutions, which can impart a sweet or spicy taste.

The final taste is largely determined by the pickling solution. The eggs are left in this solution from one day to several months.

This is probably where the controversy comes from:

A common practice is to puncture the egg with a toothpick to allow the pickling solution to penetrate to the egg's interior, but this is dangerous as it can introduce clostridium into the finished product. Eggs prepared with this method have sometimes had high enough levels of botulinum toxin to cause illness in a human.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pickled_egg

A common practice is to puncture the egg with a toothpick to allow the pickling solution to penetrate to the egg's interior,

Ah, yeah, I could see that being an issue. The whites have to stay intact to seal the center of the egg up as the vinegar toughens them.
Thank you, I was wondering... Pickling eggs is an ancient technique.

I think Anne summed it up, the egg yolks don't reach a high enough acidity to protect from exposed botulism from the poked hole.  Although there was mention that these pickled kinds of products should be stored at 39 degrees or less and measuring to ensure high enough acidity.  I believe I have seen a number in my lifetime of big old egg jars on a counter, so the temp thing might be some kind of  a controversy on its own.  Another university published article I read said pickled eggs should never be at room temperature except for serving time, when they should be limited to no more than 2 hours in the temperature danger zone of 40 to 140 degrees F. Was everyones refrigerated in the past?


From this  article I gleaned...
https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm4934a2.htm

C. botulinum spores are ubiquitous. Safe food preservation methods destroy spores or inhibit their germination and growth. Conditions that promote germination and growth of C. botulinum spores include absence of oxygen (anaerobic conditions), low acidity (pH >4.6), temperatures >39 F [4 C])...