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The FSIS Microbiological Testing Program for Pasteurized Egg Products, 1995 – 2007
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The Egg Products Inspection Act (EPIA)
was passed in 1970 to provide mandatory inspection of the processing of liquid, frozen and dried egg products.
The EPIA and the associated regulations (7 CFR Part 59) laid out the requirements to assure that eggs and
egg products are wholesome, otherwise not adulterated and properly labeled and packaged. The
Agricultural Marketing Service's (AMS) Poultry Division was
responsible for administering mandatory inspection of egg products under the EPIA. On May 28, 1995 that
responsibility for regulating pasteurized liquid, frozen or dried egg products was transferred from AMS,
to the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS).
Responsibilities assumed by FSIS include:
- Oversight of the residue monitoring program for egg products,
- Supervision of a Salmonella surveillance recognized laboratory program,
- Oversight of the microbiological monitoring program,and
- Review and approval of egg products labels.
Currently processed egg products are broken into 7 projects, 4 liquid and 3 dried. Each processed egg
project has a different time and temperature pasteurization process based upon the composition of the egg
product. Each month one egg sample per process is collected from each plant that produces eggs products
and is analyzed at FSIS Field Service Laboratories for the presence of Salmonella. Thus, an egg
products production plant could be sampled up to seven times per month depending on the number of production
processes occurring during the month.
In 1995, the first year of testing by FSIS, the percent Salmonella detected in the combined
results from the egg products project was 1.63. With few exceptions the percent positive rate for Salmonella
in pasteurized egg products has dropped each year. The latest year for pasteurized egg products testing
results, 2007, shows a decrease down to 0.07 for the presence of Salmonella. The overall results
illustrating this decrease from 1995 through 2007 are illustrated in Figure 1
(PDF Only).
Table 1 | PDF
shows the results by year for each of the seven projects. Over the thirteen years, there have been noticeable
differences in the percent of positive samples among projects. As seen in Table 1, the two projects covering
dried egg whites have found only one positive sample in over 1,700 analyses (less than 0.06 percent positive).
In contrast, Dried Yellow Egg Products and Whole Eggs and Yolks have been over 0.4 percent positive.
During the thirteen years, there have been a total of 90 positive samples. FSIS obtained Serotype information
on 75 of these positive isolates. The Serotype data are presented in Table 2 |
PDF. Table 2 shows the most common Serotype to be
Heidelberg, followed by Enteritidis.
FSIS is providing links to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
data on the serotypes isolated from human cases of salmonellosis so that the reader has easy access to
data on both the serotypes found in pasteurized egg products and those causing human illness:
Contact Information:
Food Safety and Inspection Service
Office of Public Health Science
Microbiology Division
Priscilla Levine, Staff Officer
Phone: (202) 690-6369
FAX: (202) 690-6364
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Last Modified:
June 27, 2008 |
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