How To Pasteurize Eggs

In US, Salmonella Is on the Rise While E. Coli Retreats

TUESDAY, June 7 (HealthDay News) — As a deadly new strain of E. coli in Europe makes headlines, U.S. health officials announced Tuesday that salmonella, not E. coli, remains the biggest foodborne health threat to Americans.

In fact, while rates of several types of foodborne illness — including E. coli — have been falling over the past 15 years, there’s been no progress against salmonella infections, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

While infections from Shiga toxin-producing E. coli O157 (the strain of most concern in the United States) have dropped almost in half and the rates of six other foodborne infections have been cut 23 percent, salmonella infections have risen 10 percent, the agency said.

“There are about 50 million people each year who become sick from food in the U.S. That’s about one in six Americans,” CDC director Dr. Thomas R. Frieden said during a noon press conference Tuesday.

In addition, about 128,000 people are hospitalized and about 3,000 die from foodborne illnesses each year, he added.

“We need to do more, because foodborne illnesses are too common,” Frieden said.

The CDC’s report on foodborne illness is timely in light of the deadly E. coli outbreak in Germany, which has already sickened more than 2,200 and caused 22 deaths. The E. coli found in Germany is a cousin to E. coli O157 found in the United States. Both produce the Shiga toxin that can cause kidney failure and death.

This new report from the CDC includes data from the 2010 CDC’s Foodborne Diseases Active Surveillance Network, called FoodNet, which collects data on laboratory confirmed cases of foodborne illness.

In 2010, there were 20,000 illnesses, 4,200 hospitalizations and 68 deaths from nine types of foodborne infections, reported via FoodNet.

Of those, salmonella accounted for 8,200 infections, including 2,300 hospitalizations and 29 deaths. That’s 54 percent of all hospitalizations and 43 percent of the deaths reported through FoodNet, according to the CDC.

And that’s likely just the tip of the iceberg, because for every laboratory-confirmed case of salmonella there are at least 29 unreported cases, the agency says.

Speaking at the press conference, Michael R. Taylor, Deputy Commissioner for Foods at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, said that “by implementing the new Shell-Egg Safety Rule, we expect the rule to reduce the number of salmonella infections for eggs by nearly 60 percent.

How to pasteurize eggs at home « Baking Bites

When recipes call for uncooked eggs, many cooks shy away from them. There is good reason for this, of course, since there is a small chance that raw eggs contain salmonella. This is a very small risk to begin with, and few recipes call for uncooked eggs ( mayonnaise and some mousses , just to name a few), but you can always pasteurize your eggs to ensure that they are absolutely safe to use even when they are uncooked.

Pasteurized eggs are eggs that are cooked briefly at a high temperature and then cooled. The yolk must reach a temperature of about 138F. Eggs scramble at a much higher temperature, so it is possible to heat the yolk to pasteurize it without cooking the egg. The eggs still have the consistency of raw eggs (and can be used just like them in any recipe) but microbial growth of harmful bacteria is slowed or eliminated. You can buy pasteurized eggs at some markets, but they’re usually difficult to find and expensive. I tend to pasteurize a few eggs at a time before I use them but if you have a feeling you’ll need a lot, you can do it when you first bring eggs home from the market. You can store the pasteurized eggs in the refrigerator (as you would with regular eggs) and not worry about them again.

Katy – Thanks for the link. The FDA approves facilities that pasteurize eggs. It is possible that they’re just referring to the “approved” equipment with that quite, as the method used at some commercial facilities is not all that different from this one. Commercially pasteurized eggs are also coated with wax to “seal” them after pasteurization.

The method that at least one commercial producer uses is very different than this method. The commercial method guarantees that the proper temperature is reached all the way to the center of the yolk without cooking the egg.

Bacteria multiply rapidly between 40 and 140 degrees F. If the yolk (where bacteria gets its nourishment) is not properly heated, you will be creating a very hazardous situation.

The UEP (egg producers) use the 1 in 20,000 figure. FDA and agricultural studies show the risk to be more like 1 in 5,000. Sometimes 1 in 10,000 is used as a compromise.

Remember, chicken eggs are really chicken meat. They should be handled and prepared carefully.

Commercial chicken meat and egg production

Egg science and technology

The New Elegant But Easy Cookbook

EGG QUALITY: A STUDY OF THE HEN'S EGG

Handbook of Poultry Science and Technology, Secondary Processing