Abstract: Two stage heated water treatment of shell eggs results in-shell poached eggs. The in-shell poached are sufficiently cooked so when the eggs are cracked onto a plate the eggs have the characteristics of conventional poached eggs without further cooking and need only to be warmed for consumption. The in-shell poached eggs are also pasteurized in the shell to meet the FDA and WHO requirement of a 5-log reduction of Salmonella Enteritidis.

Abstract: A continuous feed, shell egg pasteurization system and method uses sprayed heated water. The unpasteurized shell eggs are conveyed and rotated through a horizontal tunnel. An overlapping pattern of heated water is sprayed downward onto the rotating shells eggs. Verified testing shows that the shell eggs achieve a statistical 5 log reduction of Salmonella enteritidis that may have been present in the yolk in the respective unpasteurized shell egg, while at the same time are not overcooked and have little to no whitening of the albumen.

Abstract: The D-value for pasteurizing chicken shell eggs that are not refrigerated prior to pasteurization, or shell eggs that are sufficiently tempered to room temperature prior to pasteurization, is less than the D-value for pasteurizing chicken shell eggs that are refrigerated prior to pasteurization. Statistically verified time and temperature pasteurization protocols that produce pasteurized chicken shell eggs to achieve at least a statistical 5-log reduction of Salmonella Enteritidis are therefore possible at lower pasteurization temperatures or lower pasteurization dwell times.