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!