Foodservice

Egg Safety in Healthcare Foodservice

Why are pasteurized shell eggs so important to food safety in healthcare?

The Salmonella Risk

Salmonella enteritidis (Se) is a common and sometimes lethal bacteria found inside eggs. It can not be detected by our senses, and common food safety handling procedures do not remove the danger. All Salmonella can be killed by high heat, for instance, when eggs are cooked until the yolk is hard and dry. But cooking this way excludes many egg dishes and ruins many culinary techniques. Furthermore, even with the best cooking intensions a significant danger still remains, that of cross-contamination that can occur when food preparers handle contaminated raw eggs in the kitchen.

While Salmonella can cause flu-like symptoms for anyone in the general population, seniors, children under ten, pregnant women and immune compromised individuals are particularly vulnerable and should never be exposed to the risk of Salmonella because of the more severe degrees of illness and risk of death. These individuals are described by the FDA as highly susceptible populations.

Click for details about the Salmonella risk for older Americans and for people with diabetes.

The FDA Food Code

To address this risk, The FDA Food Code has described clear guidelines regarding the use of eggs and highly susceptible populations. The FDA Food Code (formerly Model Food Code) is the compilation of the best known practices in food safety and is authored by the FDA in partnership with the USDA and CDC.

The 2005 FDA Food Code states that raw or soft cooked eggs may not be served to highly susceptible populations. Unfortunately, this eliminates many egg dishes and culinary techniques.

The FDA Food Code requires that all institutions, hospitals, nursing homes, schools, etc. use pasteurized shell eggs and pasteurized egg products as the safe alternative to regular shell eggs.

The FDA Food Code defines eggs as a potentially hazardous food (PHF). The Food Code also exempts pasteurized shell eggs from this definition as they are already safe and free from the risks of Salmonella and other viable pathogens. Therefore, pasteurized shell eggs can be served safelty, even raw, to all populations indcluding highly susceptible without the risk of bacteria.

The mission of the Food Code is to create guidelines that state and local authorities can adopt to thereby improve food safety. Individual states take the guidelines provided by the FDA and incorporate them into state law. States are constantly updating their food safety regulations and virtually every state has adopted or is in the process of adopting a recent version of the Food Code.

Introduction to the 2005 Food Code >
2005 Food Code, Chapter 3: Food >

Eggs and Nutrition

Egg protein is the gold standard by which all other protein sources are compared and contain virtually every nutritional component necessary in the human diet. Eggs contain hard to find nutrients like Lutein for the eyes and Choline which helps prevent memory loss. Even concerns about cholesterol have been reduced in recent years. Incredibly, eggs remain among the least expensive sources of protein.

Davidson's Safest Choice® Egg Nutritional Facts >

Quality of Life

While it doesn’t eliminate the cross contamination risk, cooking an egg until hard will kill the Salmonella bacteria. And one of the advantages of liquid eggs is that they are also pasteurized. But these approaches remove many popular egg dishes from menus and limit culinary techniques. Only pasteurized shell eggs can eliminate Salmonella and assure quality and menu variety. Make residents and patients happy: Serve them pasteurized shell eggs any way they want!

Davidson's Safest Choice® Pasteurized Shell Eggs are the first nationally distributed pasteurized shell eggs that are pasteurized without cooking the eggs. They comply with the FDA Food Code, requiring that only pasteurized eggs be served to risk groups (i.e., hospital and nursing homes patients, adults over 55, children, diabetics) and mandating restaurant menus to display warnings unless serving pasteurized eggs.

Other Values Offered By Davidson's Pasteurized Shell Eggs:

Eliminates the risk of illness and cross-contamination of your kitchen from shell eggs.
Risk-free menu expansion and flexibility. You can now offer sunny-side up or poached eggs to your residents/patients. A great, tasty protein supplement in a natural form (2 medium shell eggs meet the protein requirement for a single meal). The elderly, children under 10 and people with weakened immune systems, approximately 30% of the population and approximately 80% of health care patients, are at the highest risk for illness and extreme complications from Salmonella enteritidis.
Use of pasteurized eggs eliminates egg waiver documents or the legal risks associated with a possible foodborne illness.
Reduction in food cost results due to longer shelf life from our eggs and the ability to measure exact portions based on daily need, not commercial package size limitations.
Creates an opportunity to promote goodwill with patients and their families.
Eliminates insurance claims and loss of good will due to illness from shell eggs.
Our eggs are Kosher Certified.

For more information or to place an order contact us.

Pasteurized Shell Egg Fact Sheets

Click for free downloads:

For more information or to place an order, contact us: 800-410-7619.