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ARS Home » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #160113
Title: RECOVERY OF SALMONELLA FROM COMMERCIAL SHELL EGGS COMPARISON OF METHODS FOR RECOVERY OF SALMONELLA FROM COMMERCIAL SHELL EGGS BY HELL RINSE AND SHELL CRUSH METHODOLOGIES

Author
item Musgrove, Michael
item Jones, Deana
item Northcutt, Julie
item HARRISON, M - UGA
item Cox Jr, Nelson
item Ingram, Kimberly
item Hinton Jr, Arthur

Submitted to: International Association for Food Protection
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/15/2004
Publication Date: 8/8/2004
Citation: Musgrove, M.T., Jones, D.R., Northcutt, J.K., Harrison, M.A., Cox Jr, N.A., Ingram, K.D., Hinton Jr, A. 2004. Recovery of salmonella from commercial shell eggs comparison of methods for recovery of salmonella from commercial shell eggs by hell rinse and shell crush methodologies. Proceedings of the 91st Annual Meeting of the International Association of FOod Protection. 67:32.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Salmonella is the most important human pathogen associated with shell eggs. Salmonella Enteritidis is the serotype most often implicated in outbreaks. However, other serotypes have been recovered from eggs and from the commercial shell egg washing environment. Eggs were collected from three commercial shell washing facilities (X, Y, Z) during three visits (repetitions 1, 2, 3). Ten eggs were collected from 10-12 locations on the egg processing line (A-L). After being transported back to the laboratory, each egg was placed in a sterile whirl-pak bag and sampled by rinsing the shell surface with 10 ml of phosphate buffered saline for 1 min. Each egg was then aseptically cracked, contents discarded, and shells crushed and rubbed in 20 ml of phosphate buffered saline. This was accomplished using a conical centrifuge tube and a sterile glass rod. For each technique (rinse or crush/rub), two five-egg pools per location (A-L) sampled were selectively enriched for the recovery of Salmonella. Presumptive positives were confirmed serologically. Overall, there were 10.6% (42/396) Salmonella-positive pooled samples. Slightly more Salmonella were recovered by the shell rinse than by the crush and rub technique (11.6% v. 9.6%). Plant X yielded 21.5% Salmonella positives while less than 5% of samples from plants Y and Z were found to be contaminated with the organism (4.2% and 4.5%, respectively). Salmonella was recovered more often from dirty eggs (15.8%) than from clean eggs (8.3%). B was the most commonly encountered serotype. None of the Salmonella recovered were from serogroup D which includes the serotype Enteritidis. Shell rinse and the crush/rub technique were equivalent in their ability to recover Salmonella from the shells of eggs. However, the shell rinse technique required fewer materials as well as being more quickly and easily performed.