Safer Eggs Laying the Groundwork

Safer Eggs: Laying the Groundwork

by Paula Kurtzweil

The egg--long noted for its high-quality protein and versatility in cooking--is getting a beating like no other.

At stake is its image as a safe and nutritious food.

In recent years, the egg has gained notoriety as a carrier of dangerous disease-causing Salmonella bacteria and as a food laden with artery-clogging cholesterol. Many of its best features--like ease of use, good taste, functionality, and low cost--have been lost in the stir.

But various groups, including the Food and Drug Administration and other government agencies, industry members, and nutrition educators, are fighting back. They are seeking to improve the safety of egg production and distribution through regulation and recommendations. They are educating people on the hazards of eating raw and undercooked eggs, urging them to adopt safe egg-handling practices and reminding them of the egg's importance in a healthful diet.

Cracking Down

Because eggs go through many channels and are handled in many ways before reaching someone's plate, FDA and the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced in May 1998 that they would seek to identify "farm-to-table actions" to decrease the food safety risks associated with shell eggs. The agencies said they would consider regulations or guidance to cover egg handling on the farm, in transit, and at the retail level and asked for public comment on such topics as:

• federal quality assurance standards for egg production
• feasibility of large-scale use of an in-shell pasteurization process, a relatively new technology
• incentives to encourage egg refrigeration before transit
• the federal government's role in regulating restaurants and retail stores. Currently, federal agencies provide guidance, such as FDA's model Food Code, a reference for retail outlets on how to prepare food to prevent food-borne illness. FDA encourages states to adopt the Food Code as law.

In the May 19 advance notice of proposed rulemaking, FDA and FSIS announced that they would propose regulations "shortly" to improve the safety of eggs. The FSIS proposal would require eggs packed for consumer use to be refrigerated during distribution at a temperature not to exceed 45 degrees Fahrenheit (7 degrees Celsius) and to include a label on packages that refrigeration is needed.

FDA's proposals would require:

• retail food stores and food service establishments to hold shell eggs at a refrigeration temperature of 45 F (7 C)
• safe handling instructions on the package labels of shell eggs that have not been treated to kill Salmonella. The instructions might say, for example, that raw eggs may contain harmful bacteria known to cause serious illness, especially in children, the elderly, and people with weakened immune systems. Consumers should be advised to keep eggs refrigerated and cook them thoroughly before eating.

Stopping the Outbreaks

While poultry, meat, fresh produce, and other raw foods also can be carriers of Salmonella enteritidis (SE), shell eggs lead the list. According to a study in the 1994 Journal of Infectious Diseases, 82 percent of SE outbreaks between 1985 and 1991 in which the vehicle for transmission was known were traced to contaminated shell eggs.

As many as 1 in 20,000 eggs, or about 2.7 million eggs annually in the United States, contains the bacteria, according to USDA. Contamination occurs as the egg develops in the oviduct--the canal through which the egg travels--of an SE-infected chicken or from chicken fecal matter coming into contact with an egg.

FDA and FSIS' pending proposals and any other possible action they may take will help unify or supplement efforts already under way to prevent the spread of SE in eggs. For example, 38 states now require refrigeration of eggs at the retail level. And a number of states, including Ohio, California, Pennsylvania, and Maine and other Northeastern states, along with the United Egg Producers, an egg producers' cooperative, have established voluntary quality assurance programs for egg producers. Participants agree to follow certain practices, which may include,

• cleaning and disinfecting hen houses between flocks
• adopting strict rodent control measures
• washing eggs properly
• refrigerating eggs between transport and storage
• putting in place biosecurity measures.
• monitoring mortality of chickens
• using SE-free chicks and pullets.

Also, the U.S. Animal Health Association, a professional association of veterinarians, has developed SE reduction guidelines for egg producers.

The Importance of Eggs

There are plenty of reasons to go to these lengths. A chief one is that eggs are one of the cheapest yet most nutritious foods around. For about 10 cents, an egg provides 6 grams of protein and substantial amounts of several important vitamins and minerals, such as vitamins A and B12, folate, thiamin, riboflavin, phosphorus, and zinc. The protein is of the highest quality, higher even than that of milk, meat and fish.

"Eggs are the gold standard of protein," says Liz Ward, a registered dietitian with the Harvard Vanguard Medical Association in Boston and spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association.

Like meat, fish, milk, and other complete proteins, eggs provide all the essential amino acids needed to support life and growth.

Eggs also have several physical and chemical properties important in cooking and baking. Eggs thicken custards, puddings and sauces. They stabilize mayonnaise and salad dressings. They're often used to coat or glaze breads and cookies. They bind ingredients in foods like meatloaf and lasagna, clarify soups, prevent crystallization in boiled candies and frostings, and serve as leavening agents, helping foods like soufflés and sponge cakes to rise.

"There are a lot of things you can't make without eggs," says Betsy Crosby, a home economist with USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service.

Eggs also are easy to use. Because they can be cooked alone or, in many cases, with other foods relatively quickly, they are a convenient, nutritious food for people on the go and those unable to do much cooking. And, unlike other animal foods, they can keep in the refrigerator for three to five weeks.

Also, because eggs are soft and easy to chew, they are a good substitute for meat and other hard-to-chew protein-rich foods for anyone who has difficulty chewing.

However, because of an egg's cholesterol content--215 milligrams all contained in the yolk--the Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends using egg yolks "in moderation." Egg whites contain no cholesterol (but all the protein) and can be used freely.

Pinpointing the Problem

State and federal investigators have traced Salmonella enteritidis outbreaks to various raw and undercooked egg-containing products, including Caesar salad, homemade Jamaican malt, French toast, lasagna, hollandaise sauce, and baked and sunnyside-up eggs. A major nationwide SE outbreak in 1994 involved ice cream, which, according to FDA's best determination, became contaminated during shipment of the ice cream mix in an improperly cleaned tanker previously used to haul unpasteurized liquid eggs. Also, the ice cream maker failed to repasteurize the ice cream mix after shipment.

Egg dishes made from "pooled" eggs, especially in institutional settings such as nursing homes, have been a frequent culprit. One contaminated raw egg can infect the whole lot when mixed together, for example, in making scrambled eggs.

SE is destroyed by cooking the egg or egg-containing dish to at least 145 degrees Fahrenheit (63 degrees Celsius). In most of the SE outbreaks in the United States, the egg products were not cooked to the proper temperature.

Frequently, the eggs involved also were not held at a refrigeration temperature of 45 F (7 C) before cooking. Proper refrigeration can help prevent the growth of SE.

The cumulative effect of these errors often causes the outbreak.

In addition to government regulations, efforts under way to stop these errors and subsequent outbreaks include educating consumers, retail food handlers, and food service personnel about proper egg and other food handling.

Technological Advances

Modern technology also may aid in the effort. According to Marilyn Balmer, V.M.D., a consumer safety officer in FDA's Office of Plant and Dairy Foods and Beverages, FDA has reviewed processes for in-shell egg pasteurization, and one of several companies interested in offering it has test-marketed pasteurized in-shell eggs.

The marketability of such eggs is unknown because, home economist Crosby says, "This technology, if perfected, might be a tad expensive." But Charles Beard, D.V.M., Ph.D., vice president of research technology for the U.S. Poultry and Egg Association, points out that in-shell eggs are retailers' preferred product. "Shell eggs get more money [than liquid egg products]," he says.

Other technological possibilities include:

• ionizing radiation, also known as irradiation (see "Irradiation: A Safe Measure for Safer Food" in the May-June 1998 FDA Consumer), to reduce Salmonella in shell eggs. At press time, a food additive petition for such a use was under FDA review.
• reducing Salmonella in chickens by spraying newly hatched chickens with Preempt, a biotechnology product FDA approved last March that contains 29 bacteria. The bacteria, which the chicks ingest when they peck at their wet feathers, reduce Salmonella colonization in the chicks' intestines.

  Technology may go a long way towards reducing Salmonella enteritidis in eggs, but Balmer says that, at present, "the problem is multifaceted. That's why the solution has to be a farm-to-table continuum."

  Paula Kurtzweil is a member of FDA's public affairs staff.

Safe Egg Handling

To prevent infection with Salmonella enteritidis, follow these rules when buying, storing, preparing, serving, and eating eggs:

• Don't eat raw eggs. This includes so-called "health-food" beverages made with raw eggs, and foods traditionally made with raw eggs, such as Caesar salad, hollandaise sauce, homemade mayonnaise, ice cream, eggnog, and cookie dough, unless the dish was made with a pasteurized liquid egg product or pasteurized in-shell eggs. Egg mixtures made with an egg-milk base cooked to an internal temperature of 160 degrees Fahrenheit (71 degrees Celsius) are safe, too. Use a thermometer to make sure the mixtures reach the correct temperature.
• Buy eggs only if sold in the grocer's refrigerated case. Open the carton and check that the eggs are clean and uncracked.
• Store eggs in their carton in the coldest part of the refrigerator, not in the door, and use within three to five weeks. The refrigerator should be set at 40 F (5 C) or slightly below.
• Keep hard-cooked eggs, including dyed Easter eggs, in the refrigerator, not at room temperature. Use within one week.
• Eggs should not be frozen in their shells. To freeze whole eggs, beat yolks and whites together. Egg whites also can be frozen by themselves. Use frozen eggs within one year.
• Wash hands, utensils, equipment, and work areas with warm, soapy water before and after contact with eggs and egg-rich foods.
• Don't leave cooked eggs out of the refrigerator for more than two hours. When baking or cooking, take out the eggs you need, and then return the carton to the refrigerator.
• Cook eggs until yolks are firm.

Additional information on safe egg and other food-handling practices is available from:

Food and Drug Administration

Office of Consumer Affairs
HFE-88
Rockville, MD 20857

FDA's Food Information Line
1-800-FDA-4010
(202) 205-4314 in the Washington, D.C., area
24 hours a day

FDA Website: www.cfsan.fda.gov/~mow/foodborn.html

U.S. Department of Agriculture

USDA's Meat and Poultry Hotline
1-800-535-4555
(202) 720-3333 in the Washington, D.C., area
Recorded messages available 24 hours a day. Home economists and registered dietitians available 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Eastern time, Monday through Friday.
www.fsis.usda.gov/OA/consedu.htm

--P.K.

Salmonella Threat

Salmonella is commonly found in the intestinal tracts of animals, especially birds and reptiles. (See The Fright of the Iguana in the November-December 1997 FDA Consumer.) In humans, Salmonella infection can cause salmonellosis, an illness characterized by fever, stomach cramps and diarrhea, which typically develop eight hours to three days after eating a contaminated food or drink. The illness can last as long as seven days, and severe cases may require hospitalization. In some people, it can cause death. A small number of illnesses may develop into recurring joint pain and arthritis.

The degree to which a person becomes sick depends on his or her health status and the number of bacteria ingested. The poorer the health and the larger the number of bacteria, the greater the likelihood for serious illness. People who are most susceptible are children, older Americans, and people with weakened immunity (for example, people with AIDS or cancer).

Salmonella enteritidis is one of the major Salmonella strains showing up in food. Between 1976 and 1994, the proportion of reported Salmonella isolates that were this particular strain increased from 5 percent to 26 percent, according to the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In a year-by-year breakdown by CDC, the number of U.S. cases of Salmonella enteritidis are:

• 1985--5,657
• 1986--6,036
• 1987--7,052
• 1988--7,063
• 1989--8,466
• 1990--8,734
• 1991--7,755
• 1992--6,578
• 1993--8,071
• 1994--9,866
• 1995--10,201
• 1996--9,566

--P.K.

FDA Consumer magazine (September-October 1998)

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