royal icing test run

I can't recall what I used for icing last time around on the ol'

sugar cookies. I gave royal icing a spin today, though, as it's

well known for setting up to a lovely finish.The reason I 

hadn't made it before is that it is based on raw egg whites. 

While whites are not the worrisome part of the egg as far as 

salmonella goes (salmonella thrives on yolk), I feel uncomfortable 

with it for mere lack of experience. But I gave it a try. 

It is the "industry standard" for cookie icing, after all.

I have tried the meringue powder version in the past, and it works
well enough. But doesn't turn out as shiny or smooth as the real thing.

I found the royal icing to be easy to color and pipe. It set to a
nice shine and tastes great. At first it had a distinctly eggy smell,
but that seems to have cleared now that the icing has dried.
Honestly, I still feel a bit dubious about the whole raw egg bit.
I mean, am I just being paranoid?
People use this stuff all the time, right?!?

Maybe I'll just see if I can find some pasteurized egg whites in town.