Liquid Egg Storage
Hi all,
Firstly let me introduce myself:
I accidentally found myself working at a food manufacturing and storage factory having just finished my A Levels and was only expecting to be kicking around for a few months until I found something a bit more relevant to my exams. 3 and a half years later at 22 I've managed to work my way through the business and am now in charge of quality and food safety here and I'm really pleased I never went anywhere.
Anyway I'm learning on the job as my old boss was a bit cagey and never really wanted me to know too much about his work. His policies included storage of all temperature critical products such as milk and cheese at 5°C except liquid egg products. These were to be stored at 4°C according to policy despite being pasteurized and having a long shelf-life. Can anyone think of a reason why these products could not be stored at 5°C like everything else? As far as I'm aware a pasteurized egg product wouldn't accommodate a dangerous level of microbial growth while stored at this temperature but maybe I'm wrong.
Thanks in advance
Hi Andy
Pasteurised Liquid egg products are difficult to handle. I deal with one of the largest manufacturer of egg products in Australia According to their specification these products should be delivered and stored at -!80C and should be thawed just prior to use.Therefore if you do not have freezer you should ask your suppliers to deliver the egg product on the day you want to use it. storing at 40C or one day may be ok but nost egg products manufactures are not going to give you any warranty if some thing goes wrong.
am happy to send you copy of the specification if you need them.
Kind regards
Dr. Humaid Khan
Managing Director
Halal international Services
Sydney Australia
We Handle International Projects
Hi Andy,
Never heard of a manufacturing facility having separate storage conditions of 4degC and 5degC. How did you operationally achieve such a minute difference ? I rather doubt most systems could consistently measure it.
Pasteurization for eggs afaik is typically targeted for safety at a specific bacterial species (eg Salmonella). From memory egg is (not surprisingly) sensitive quality-wise to the maximum temperature. Some pathogenic spores (and theoretically some veg. species) can survive Salmonella pasteurization hence chilled storage.
The precise storage temp. for safe chilling storage varies with textbook/location/author. Most hover around 4-5degC which in practice is usually implemented as a limit, eg < 5degC. Some pathogenic bacteria can grow below this, eg L.monocytogenes.
In UK, from memory, home storage chilled refrigerator sections are regulatory limited to max. 8degC although recommended to target 5degC. A reflection of practical control capability. Australia no idea.
PS - just saw the previous post. No personal experience with eggs so my comments were not specific to liquid egg, maybe this form has some particular risk factor / Local Regulatory requirements which require freezing. Maybe simply a shelf-life criterion.
PPS - here are USDA requirements (maybe different process conditions to Australia) -
Safe Handling and Storage of Egg Products
Safe handling and storage is necessary for all egg products to prevent bacterial contamination. Here are recommendations from USDA:
- For best quality, store frozen egg products up to one year. Check to be sure your freezer is set at 0 °F or lower. After thawing, do not refreeze.
- Thaw frozen egg products in the refrigerator or under cold running water. DO NOT THAW ON THE COUNTER.
- If the container for liquid products bears a "use-by" date, observe it. Follow the storage and handling instructions provided by the manufacturer.
- For liquid products without an expiration date, store unopened containers at 40 °F or below for up to 7 days (not to exceed 3 days after opening). Do not freeze opened cartons of liquid egg products.
- Unopened dried egg products and egg white solids can be stored at room temperature as long as they are kept cool and dry. After opening, store in the refrigerator.
- Reconstituted egg products should be used immediately or refrigerated and used that day.
- USDA Commodity Dried Egg Mix should be stored at less than 50 °F, preferably in the refrigerator (at 40 °F or below). After opening, use within 7 to 10 days. Reconstitute only the amount needed at one time. Use reconstituted egg mix immediately or refrigerate and use within 1 hour.
40degF = 4.4 degC
50degF = 10 degC
Hi Andy
Pasteurised Liquid egg products are difficult to handle. I deal with one of the largest manufacturer of egg products in Australia According to their specification these products should be delivered and stored at -!80C and should be thawed just prior to use.Therefore if you do not have freezer you should ask your suppliers to deliver the egg product on the day you want to use it. storing at 40C or one day may be ok but nost egg products manufactures are not going to give you any warranty if some thing goes wrong.
am happy to send you copy of the specification if you need them.
Kind regards
Dr. Humaid Khan
Managing Director
Halal international Services
Sydney Australia
We Handle International Projects
Wow never thought -8°C would be necessary! We do have a freezer and that's maybe something we could look into. If you would be able to attach the specs that would be great, thanks!
Wow never thought -8°C would be necessary! We do have a freezer and that's maybe something we could look into. If you would be able to attach the specs that would be great, thanks!
Probably -18degC
Hi Andy,
Never heard of a manufacturing facility having separate storage conditions of 4degC and 5degC. How did you operationally achieve such a minute difference ? I rather doubt most systems could consistently measure it.
Pasteurization for eggs afaik is typically targeted for safety at a specific bacterial species (eg Salmonella). From memory egg is (not surprisingly) sensitive quality-wise to the maximum temperature. Some pathogenic spores (and theoretically some veg. species) can survive Salmonella pasteurization hence chilled storage.
The precise storage temp. for safe chilling storage varies with textbook/location/author. Most hover around 4-5degC which in practice is usually implemented as a limit, eg < 5degC. Some pathogenic bacteria can grow below this, eg L.monocytogenes.
In UK, from memory, home storage chilled refrigerator sections are regulatory limited to max. 8degC although recommended to target 5degC. A reflection of practical control capability. Australia no idea.
PS - just saw the previous post. No personal experience with eggs so my comments were not specific to liquid egg, maybe this form has some particular risk factor / Local Regulatory requirements which require freezing. Maybe simply a shelf-life criterion.
PPS - here are USDA requirements (maybe different process conditions to Australia) -
40degF = 4.4 degC
50degF = 10 degC
Hi Charles,
If I'm honest, at the moment we aren't actually running the storage areas at 2 different temperatures and have set our coldstore to run at 5°C as I would deem this pretty safe. But due to an upcoming audit we want our procedures to match what we are actually doing and so I'm really only wondering if there's a reason for me to not change the policy. Salmonella shouldn't rapidly multiply at 5° or even 6-7°C should it?
Probably -18degC
Oh yeah that explains the ! mark
Hi Andy,
In a previous job we used liquid egg. Just as Dr Khan says, keep frozen and thaw as much as you need when you need it. From memory we used to give a 3 day use by date when chilled with an allowance for thawing. Don't remember exact times though.
Hi Andy we keep the egg products at ( -18oC)
Hi all,
Firstly let me introduce myself:
I accidentally found myself working at a food manufacturing and storage factory having just finished my A Levels and was only expecting to be kicking around for a few months until I found something a bit more relevant to my exams. 3 and a half years later at 22 I've managed to work my way through the business and am now in charge of quality and food safety here and I'm really pleased I never went anywhere.
Anyway I'm learning on the job as my old boss was a bit cagey and never really wanted me to know too much about his work. His policies included storage of all temperature critical products such as milk and cheese at 5°C except liquid egg products. These were to be stored at 4°C according to policy despite being pasteurized and having a long shelf-life. Can anyone think of a reason why these products could not be stored at 5°C like everything else? As far as I'm aware a pasteurized egg product wouldn't accommodate a dangerous level of microbial growth while stored at this temperature but maybe I'm wrong.
Thanks in advance
0-4°C also originated from the 1993 Egg and Egg Products Regs http://www.legislati.../1993/1520/made which have now been replaced by EC 852 and 853
Hiya,
I work in a liquid egg plant as a quality manager. Let me tell you what we do...
After egg is pasteurised we have to store it @ <4 on site. Our cooling down of liquid egg is to <4 and we store until dispatch to that temperature and I am required to do so based on 1993 Egg and Egg Products Regulation. All our liquid egg goes to bakeries throughout N.Ireland and Ireland. Our EHO is pushing us to relabel our liquid egg to state <8 once purchased as that is what the bakeries are allowed to store it as however that isnt the case for myself - the producer of this product.
It can be stored at different temps but that is according to the product it is used into and the legislation around the product type. What somebody does with it after it leaves my site is up to them and their HACCP plan but it wont and isnt going into mine. EHO was informing me that throughout the UK there is a big push and a lot of working going into storing liquid egg and your HACCP around your liquid egg taking consideration into the final product it gets added to and adjusting HACCP to the end intended use. It isnt legislation and isnt required so I wont be changing anything until we are forced to by a higher force than just a recommendation from the EHO.
Maybe if you complete shelf life with the product being held at the higher temp and abuse the samples it gives you evidence to show it can be stored at 5 and it isnt a food safety risk? If you are only looking to store it 1 degree more is it really worth all the hassle?
IL
Hi Andy
My experience with liquid egg is holding it between 0-5°C, limited shelf life of 3 maybe 4 days dependent on what product it was going in and a certificate of analysis on arrival. We had no issues even if a chiller went down for a short period of time and the temperature creep up to 8°C temporally. Our products were also High Risk
Cheers
Jimmy
Hi every one,
we have a few Pasteurized Liquid Whole Egg bags that would expired in 2 days in our facility. I was wondering could we keep them freeze to use later or not?
Thanks,
Hi every one,
we have a few Pasteurized Liquid Whole Egg bags that would expired in 2 days in our facility. I was wondering could we keep them freeze to use later or not?
Thanks,
I am not sure of the Canadian regulations, however, here is some info from USDA:
Safe Handling and Storage of Egg Products
Safe handling and storage is necessary for all egg products to prevent bacterial contamination. Here are recommendations from USDA:
https://www.fsis.usd...hyb6Bqv7SW4!/#2
- For best quality, store frozen egg products up to one year. Check to be sure your freezer is set at 0 °F or lower. After thawing, do not refreeze.
- Thaw frozen egg products in the refrigerator or under cold running water. DO NOT THAW ON THE COUNTER.
- If the container for liquid products bears a "use-by" date, observe it. Follow the storage and handling instructions provided by the manufacturer.
- For liquid products without an expiration date, store unopened containers at 40 °F or below for up to 7 days (not to exceed 3 days after opening). Do not freeze opened cartons of liquid egg products.