SURVIVAL OF SALMONELLA SPECIES IN EGGS POACHED USING A MICROWAVE-OVEN

The use of microwave ovens is becoming increasingly popular, but there is little data on the bactericidal effect of this mode of cooking. Fo llowing a family outbreak of gastroenteritis due to Salmonella enterit idis PT4, where eggs poached in a microwave oven were the suspected so urce, we investigated the survival of Salmonella spp. in artifically c ontaminated eggs cooked in a microwave oven. The survival of six serot ypes of Salmonella at various inocula were studied, after cooking the eggs using two recognized poaching methods. Salmonellae were readily r ecovered after cooking if the yolk was still soft, whichever serotype, inoculum or cooking method was used. The survival of organisms was re lated to the number of organisms present in the raw eggs. The advice r egarding eating lightly cooked eggs should be the same whether microwa ve or more conventional cooking techniques are used.