Pasteurizing Eggs in the Shell: Researchers Take Strides Against Salmonella

SEALED AND DELIVERED: Pasteurized Eggs has won USDA's first seal certifying the efficacy of the process for making eggs nearly Salmonella-free. The difference between pasteurized and unpasteurized eggs from the shell is hardly visible. The pasteurized ones (top) are slightly cloudier. Eggs, sunny-side up, have been on the path to becoming a relic of the past. Salmonella enteritidis (SE) has become one of the most common causes of bacterial foodborne illness in humans in the United States, an

Stephen Hoffert

Jul 19, 1998

SEALED AND DELIVERED: Pasteurized Eggs has won USDA's first seal certifying the efficacy of the process for making eggs nearly Salmonella-free. The difference between pasteurized and unpasteurized eggs from the shell is hardly visible. The pasteurized ones (top) are slightly cloudier.

Eggs, sunny-side up, have been on the path to becoming a relic of the past. Salmonella enteritidis (SE) has become one of the most common causes of bacterial foodborne illness in humans in the United States, and undercooked eggs contaminated with SE have been implicated as a primary mode of infection, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Some large restaurant chains no longer offer sunny-side up eggs to customers, and many institutions such as hospitals and nursing homes use only pasteurized egg products already removed from the shell.

But if L. John Davidson, president of Pasteurized Eggs L.P. in Laconia, N.H., has...

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