The use of UV irradiation in reducing Salmonella enteritidis on shell eggs

The effect of 253.7 nm UV irradiation on the population of Salmonella enter itidis inoculated on agar plates and shell-egg surfaces was investigated. A n irradiation dose of 8.2 mW.s/cm(2) (275 mW/cm(2) x 30 sec) decreased the SE population on agar plates 6-7 log(10) cycles and on shell-egg surfaces 1 .1 log(10) cycles, respectively. Also, the bacterial reduction (%) was from 99.9 % to 100 % and from 89.9 % to 99.9 %, respectively. Further increasin g the UV dose level to 49.5 mW.s/cm(2) (3-min exposure) reduced 2.5-4 log(1 0) cycles on the shell-egg surfaces.