Frequently Asked
Questions About Egg Food Safety
How does Salmonella infect eggs?
What is an improper egg handling practice?
How should eggs be refrigerated?
Opps, I just realized I left the egg carton on the
kitchen counter overnight.
Are the eggs safe to use?
What is an adequate temperature to cook an egg?
Can shell eggs be pasteurized or irradiated to kill
Salmonella?
Are egg products pasteurized?
What should you consider when purchasing eggs?
Is the appearance of an egg related to food safety?
How is the egg industry working to promote egg safety?
How does Salmonella
infect eggs?
Salmonella bacteria are found in the intestinal tracts of animals, birds,
reptiles, insects and humans. Salmonella
may be found on the outside of the egg shell before the egg is washed
or it may be found inside the egg if the hen was infected. It
is estimated that one egg in 20,000 eggs contains Salmonella which is
a 0.005% contamination rate. Eggs contain natural antimicrobial substances
in the egg white, and eggs are washed and sanitized before they are packed.
Egg recipes properly prepared in individual servings and promptly eaten
are rarely a problem Inadequate
refrigeration, improper handling and insufficient cooking are all factors
that have contributed to disease outbreaks. Salmonella
is destroyed by heat. Eggs
that have been handled and cooked properly should not cause human illness.
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What is
an improper egg handling practice?
The pooling of eggs, which is a common practice where eggs are broken
out of their shell, mixing egg white and yolk, then held together in
large quantities. This practice
removes the egg's natural barriers and creates a nutrient rich medium
that is ideal for bacterial growth. Lack of washing hands and cutting
boards with warm soapy water is another contributing factor in approximately
one third of the U.S. food borne illness outbreaks reported by the Center
for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
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How should
eggs be refrigerated?
Refrigerate raw shell eggs in their cartons on the middle
or lower inside shelf, not on the door, and away from any meat
that might drip juices or any raw produce that might contact eggshells.
Cover or wrap well any egg mixtures or leftover cooked egg dishes.
For all perishable foods, including eggs and egg containing dishes,
allow no more than 2 hours at room temperature for preparation
and serving, 30 minutes to 1 hour when it's 85�F or hotter without
refrigeration.
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Opps, I
just realized I left the egg carton on the kitchen counter overnight. Are
the eggs safe to use?
The general rule is that if food items are at room temperature
for more than 2 hours, the safest thing to do is to discard the
product. If you leave
eggs anywhere that is not refrigerated, the best thing to do is
throw those eggs away and buy a new carton. If that is not possible, be sure to cook those eggs very thoroughly.
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What is
an adequate temperature to cook an egg?
Egg white coagulates between 144 and 149�F, egg yolk coagulates
between 149 and 158�F and whole eggs between 144 and 158�F. Plain
whole eggs without added ingredients are pasteurized but not cooked
by bringing them to 140�F and maintaining that temperature for
3 and 1/2 minutes. According
to the FDA Food Code, eggs for immediate consumption can be cooked
to 145�F for 15 seconds.
If the eggs are to be used in a recipe with
other food items, dilute the eggs with with liquid or other ingredients,
such as milk, or sugar (at least � cup liquid or sugar per egg
as in custard) and cook the egg mixture to 160�F, which will destroy
harmful bacteria in a few seconds. Adequate cooking brings eggs
and other foods to a temperature high enough to destroy bacteria
that might be present.
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Can shell
eggs be pasteurized or irradiated to kill Salmonella?
A processor can pasteurize shell eggs if FDA has approved
the process. Pasteurized
shell eggs are available in some areas in the U.S. Shell
eggs have recently been approved for irradiation by the US Food
and Drug Administration but are not yet available.
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Are egg
products pasteurized?
Almost 30% of all shell eggs produced in the US today are
broken and further processed to make egg products which are sold
as retail or foodservice items or ingredients for commercial food
manufacturers. These may be whole liquid egg, egg whites, or egg
yolks, and may be liquid, frozen or dried. The
safety of egg products is regulated by the Food Safety Inspection
Service of the USDA and is ensured by mandatory pasteurization
to destroy potentially harmful pathogens.
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What should
you consider when purchasing eggs?
Always buy eggs from a refrigerated case. Choose eggs with
clean, uncracked shells. Don't buy out of date eggs. The
USDA grade shield on the carton means that the eggs were graded
for quality and checked for weight under the supervision of a trained
USDA grader. State
agencies monitor compliance for egg packers who do not use the
USDA grading service.
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Is the
appearance of an egg related to food safety?
Variation in egg color is due to many factors. A
cloudy white is a sign that the egg is very fresh. A clear egg
white is an indication that the egg is aging. Pink or iridescent
egg white indicates spoilage and should not be consumed. A
rupture of one or more small blood vessels in the yolk may cause
blood spots at the time of ovulation. It does not indicate the
egg is unsafe to eat. The
color of the yolk varies in shades of yellow depending upon the
diet of the hen. If
she eats plenty of yellow/orange plants the yolk with be a darker
yellow than if she eats white cornmeal, a colorless diet. A green
ring on a hard cooked yolk is result of overcooking and is caused
by sulfur and iron compounds in the egg reacting on the yolk's
surface. The green color can also be caused by a high amount of
iron in the cooking water. Scrambled
eggs held too long on a steam table or at too high a temperature
can also develop a green tint. The
green color is safe to eat.
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How is
the egg industry working to promote egg safety?
Egg industry programs start by keeping breeder flocks Salmonella
free. The National Poultry Improvement Plan, a joint program between
the industry and the US Department of Agriculture, is a model program
for preventing breeder stock infection.
Ongoing research projects are dedicated to
discovering how Salmonella gets into flocks and how it might be
blocked.
A number of farm level programs such as the
United Egg Producer's 5 Star program, apply quality control measures
and sanitation procedures all through the production, processing
and preparation phases, including testing chicks to confirm their
cleanliness and Salmonella free status. By holding eggs at cool
temperatures (45�F) during production and transportation stages,
producers help to ensure that any Salmonella present will not multiply
and less bacteria will be available to spread or risk infecting
the consumer.
The American Egg Board and the Egg Nutrition
Center are members of the Partnership for Food Safety Education www.fightbac.org,
a unique industry and government coalition whose purpose is to
reduce foodborne illness by educating the public about safe food
handling practices.
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