Cooling salmonella rate
Using cold water instead of warm during a second wash of eggs can help cooling. This apparently reduces the risk of pathogen growth inside and outside the shell.
These test findings may help egg producers and processors with a simple and cheap way of reducing pathogen contamination.
Contamination is a continuing problem for egg producers due to the high prevalence of pathogens, such as Salmonella. Washing the shells before processing is known to reduce the incidence of pathogens, which is mainly caused by faecal matter on eggs.
Researchers with the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) together with those from Auburn University, studied the frequency of Salmonella, Campylobacter, Listeria and other pathogens in eggs commercially washed in cool water. Their findings were reported in the Journal of Food Safety.
They found that using warm temperature water in a first wash and cooler water in a second wash could provide the greatest benefit by both reducing egg temperature and microbial levels.
They found that using warm temperature water in a first wash and cooler water in a second wash could provide the greatest benefit by both reducing egg temperature and microbial levels.
While Salmonella, Campylobacter and Listeria were all detected in shell emulsion and wash-water samples from cool-water washing treatments, none were detected in the eggs contents throughout the storage period of eight weeks.
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