Raw, Unpasteurised Egg On Frozen Pastry Products
Hi,
I wonder if someone can be of assistance - I would be most grateful!
A business produces RTE and Frozen Pastry Products (both meat and non-meat fillings) with the addition of raw, unpasteurised egg used as a glaze on both types of products.
The RTE products go through a kill step (baking) and the frozen are taken to a blast freezer and immediately rapid chilled before frozen storage.
My question is this - When sending the raw, unbaked products to the laboratory for product testing - aren't the results going to be bouncing with Salmonella? - given that raw egg is potentially alive with pathogens.
The detection of Salmonella is a product recall situation I know - I have suggested using pasteurised egg but the MD wants to keep the recipes as traditional as possible.
The RTE products go through an acceptable kill step but given that Salmonella can survive the freezer for a length of time, how can Salmonella be eliminated on the testing results.
The frozen, raw products are sold to be cooked before consumption - this is clearly specified on the label.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated - Thank You!
Since you're selling an RTC product and not an RTE, you need to set your acceptable micro numbers accordingly
Ideally you'll be salmonella free as it is my understanding the vast majority of layers have been vaccinated against salmonella and there has been a significant reduction in layers over the years
https://assets.publi...ella-layers.pdf
You cannot possibly apply the standard of none detected to RTC foods without also switching to pasteurized egg
Since the egg is only being applied to the top, perhaps you can convince your boss that the much longer shelf life of pasteurized = $$$ savings in the long term is worth the switch
To clarify, are your products supposed to be cooked by the customer prior to consumption (i.e., they are not RTE)? If so, perhaps you could work on validating the effectiveness of your cooking instructions to kill salmonella.
If your product is actually intended to be eaten right out of the package, even with the raw egg wash...I really would recommend using the pasteurized eggwash.
Hi Dee 70,
IIRC occasional UK micro. surveys are done on certain, vulnerable, retail items like raw eggs and raw chicken breasts. The results are published. From memory Salmonella detection used to run in the 5-10% range.
As I understand, the detection of Salmonella in raw eggs is not a Recall criterion. I'm less sure about derivative items though.
Issuance of Product Specifications for many raw products can sometimes be a little optimistic. :smile: However most HACCP plans are obliged to accept/state the practical reality.
How about the meat etc fillings, are they precooked ? If yes, the unpasteurized egg is surely illogical?
Think of all possible scenarios your consumers may use the product. If they can consume without cooking and potentially consumer the raw egg wash I would tell your management you must use pasteurized. Just because it says "cook" and provides instructions doesn't mean people do that consistently. It only takes one death to wake people up and have to go through potential litigation even if your label says "cook before consuming" and provides instructions.