PASTEURIZATION OF EGGS IN THE SHELL

A small percentage of all eggs may be contaminated with Salmonella ent eritidis (SE). To eliminate this hazard from the food supply, procedur es for pasteurizing eggs in the shell have been developed. At least fo ur research groups are attempting to devise a process to achieve a pas teurized shell egg. Only one of the groups has reported procedures and results. Sound shell eggs were washed to remove surface contaminants. The clean eggs were then inoculated with high levels of SE cells. The inoculated eggs were then heated by one of several means to a yolk te mperature of about 55 C and held at that temperature for varying perio ds of time. The number of surviving cells was determined. It is possib le to obtain a 7 log cycle reduction of SE in inoculated eggs without a significant change in functional or visual quality of the eggs.