Read the
magazine
story to find out more.
|
ARS scientists have worked out a new way to
pasteurize fresh eggs, making them less likely to carry pathogens. Photo
courtesy of Microsoft clipart.
|
|
New Food Safety Technology Developed for Eggs
By Laura
McGinnis
May 8, 2009 Good news for fans of raw cookie dough:
Agricultural Research Service (ARS)
scientists have filed a patent on technology that can protect pasteurized
liquid eggs from food safety threats.
These threats include both naturally-occurring spoilage bacteria and
pathogens. But don't go running for that dough just yet; the
U.S. Food and Drug Administration still
cautions against consuming raw, unpasteurized eggs or products that contain
them.
The new technology was developed by
Sudarsan
Mukhopadhyay,
Peggy
Tomasula and
John
Luchansky, researchers at the ARS
Eastern
Regional Research Center (ERRC) in Wyndmoor, Pa.
Current pasteurization technology removes heat-sensitive pathogens, but some
heat-resistant spoilage microorganisms can survive. Consumers can avoid illness
by properly preparing and cooking eggs before consumption, but the researchers
have found that new technology can compensate for the shortcomings of thermal
pasteurization.
The technology, called "crossflow microfiltration membrane
separation" (CMF), removes more pathogens than thermal pasteurization. And
it does so without affecting the eggs' ability to foam, coagulate and emulsify,
meaning that CMF-treated eggs could be safely substituted for pasteurized eggs
in angel food cake and other products where those characteristics are desired.
In a pilot-scale study, CMF was shown to remove about 99.9999 percent of
inoculated Salmonella enteritidis from unpasteurized liquid egg whites.
The technology can also be used to remove Bacillus anthracis spores from
egg whites. This finding adds to previous work in which ERRC researchers used
CMF to remove 99.9999 percent of B. anthracis spores inoculated into
fluid milk. Microfiltration can also protect milk from more common bacterial
pathogens, potentially extending its shelf life.
Although effective in its own right, CMF works best when used as an
accompaniment to pasteurization, not a replacement for it. Combining the two
processes significantly reduces the pathogen load.
Read
more about this research in the May/June 2009 issue of Agricultural
Research magazine.
ARS is the principal intramural scientific research agency of the
U.S. Department of Agriculture.