The survival of salmonellas in shell eggs cooked under simulated domestic conditions

Abstract

Strains of Salmonella enteritidis, S. typhimurium and S. senftenberg inoculated into the yolks of shell eggs were found to survive forms of cooking where some of the yolk remained liquid. Survival was largely independent of the size of the initial inoculum. The organisms also grew rapidly in eggs stored at room temperature and after 2 days the number of cells per gram of yolk exceeded log10 8.0. With this level of contamination viable cells could be recovered from eggs cooked in any manner.

Isolated or associated experimental contamination of albumen and egg yolk for Salmonella Enteritidis and Escherichia coli: influence of temperature and storage time

“…SE, in high counts, can survive any heat or cooking treatment (Humphrey et al, 1989). Viable cells of SE have been found in 44% of all fried, scrambled, hard-cooked eggs, and omelettes prepared with contaminated eggs (Mahdi Saeed and Koons, 1993).…”

Salmonella enteritidis phage type 4 from the contents of intact eggs: a study involving naturally infected hens

“…A number of salmonellas, including S. enteritidis PT4, are able to grow rapidly at room temperature in artificially contaminated egg yolks or homogenized whole egg (13,14). This would not appear always to be the case with naturally contaminated eggs.…”

Contamination of hands and work surfaces with Salmonella enteritidis PT4 during the preparation of egg dishes

“…On each occasion, 20 eggs were inoculated, using previously published techniques [10], into the albumen with between logl0 3-0-logl0 6 0 cells of S. enteritidis. Each egg was then cracked, by hand, against the edge of a glass bowl and the egg contents removed into the bowl.…”