National Pasteurized Eggs Receives NSF Food Safety Leadership Award

Safest Choice™ Pasteurized Eggs

April 20, 2011

In recognition of its outstanding contributions to the advancement of food safety, National Pasteurized Eggs, Inc. (NPE), producer of Safest Choice™ pasteurized eggs, has received the 2011 NSF Food Safety Leadership Award in Breakthrough Technologies for its in-shell egg pasteurization process.

Greg West, NPE president, accepted the award at The Food Safety Summit in Washington, DC on April 20, 2011. "We owe our success to our valued customers who understand that Safest Choice™ eggs are a first line defense against Salmonella and that the best solution is to keep Salmonella from entering their kitchens in the first place," said West. "We've been honored to share our Safest Choice™ story with hundreds of government, industry and association events over the years."

"NPE's breakthrough technology eliminates the risk of Salmonella inside of eggs without cooking them. Growth of this safer egg alternative in the foodservice supply chain has been vital to public health," West said. NPE is working diligently to achieve its mission of eliminating the vehicle of nearly 80% of the nation's Salmonella illnesses. He added, "Unlike liquid pasteurized eggs, operators can use our eggs in any dish or application while providing safety to the individuals they serve."

Today, more than 200 foodservice distributors, 4000 retail stores and thousands of food operations make available the option of the FDA-approved pasteurized egg. West noted, "NPE has experienced year-over-year growth of over 50% of our safe shell eggs by establishing pasteurized eggs as a permanent choice for many hospitals, healthcare facilities and restaurants, protecting the highest risk populations wherever they dine."

With increasing demand for a safe-egg option, in September 2009, NPE opened a second plant in South Dakota doubling capacity and quickly reached a milestone of pasteurizing over one billion eggs for its customers. As demand continues to increase NPE also launched cage-free pasteurized eggs nationally and has ordered equipment additions to increase pasteurization capacity another 50%.

In ongoing recognition of its food-safe product innovation, NPE is also proud to have earned:

• The American Culinary Federation Seal of Approval for Safest Choice™ Pasteurized Eggs and Cage Free Pasteurized Eggs (2010)
• The "Top 100" Supplier recognition from Sysco (2010)
• Red Herring Global 100 Innovation Award (2008)
• Chicago Innovation Award (2008)