Boaz Zion,
Rachel Gollop,
Mordechai Barak,
Liad Reshef,
Avraham Arbel
Salmonella is a zoonotic pathogen that is commonly transmitted through food. External disinfection of shell eggs is of crucial importance to health in reducing egg-borne salmonellosis, because Salmonella on shells can be easily transmitted to other food products or infect food handlers. A new thermal treatment was developed for the inactivation of Salmonella Enterica on shell eggs. Steam was applied to the eggs while being conveyed through a thermal trap (TT)—a partially enclosed chamber filled with steam. Following system optimization, a short treatment of 2 s in a TT operated at 37,600 eggs/h completely inactivated Salmonella (>107 CFU) artificially inoculated in small circles (ca. 11 mm diameter) on fresh shell eggs. The treatment had no adverse effects on egg quality or shelf life.
