safe is very vaguely defined. even with pasteurization there is a chance that salmonella and other microbes could still live, so egg whites in a carton do have a lower risk but still a risk. i know my grandfather, father, and now I have all drank raw eggs (me personally for near 6 years) and have never gotten sick because of them.
EDIT** eating 8 eggs for breakfast gets extremely boring after a few years, so i just chug them in a minute. if you eat enough eggs, you'll covert lol
I too have read that the body utilizes denatured (cooked) protein from eggs better than raw.
whether the pasteurization process denatures enough to count...I do not know. Mreik is pretty up on his stuff though, so it's probably either a myth about needing to cook, or the pasteurizing is sufficient.
When eatting raw eggs, just spray a bit of disinfectant on them and wipe with a cloth. this may take a few seconds but its still quicker than cooking them.