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The FSIS Microbiological Testing Program for Pasteurized Egg Products, 1995 – 2008
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The Egg Products Inspection Act (EPIA)
was passed in 1970 to provide mandatory inspection of the processing of liquid, frozen and dried egg products.
The EPIA and the associated regulations (7 CFR Part 59) laid out the requirements to assure that eggs and
egg products are wholesome, otherwise not adulterated and properly labeled and packaged. The
Agricultural Marketing Service's (AMS) Poultry Division was
responsible for administering mandatory inspection of egg products under the EPIA. On May 28, 1995
that responsibility for regulating pasteurized liquid, frozen or dried egg products was transferred
from AMS, to the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS).
Responsibilities assumed by FSIS include:
- Oversight of the residue monitoring program for egg products,
- Supervision of a Salmonella surveillance recognized laboratory program,
- Oversight of the microbiological monitoring program, and
- Review and approval of egg products labels.
Currently processed egg products are broken into 7 projects, 4 liquid and 3 dried. Each processed
egg project has a different time and temperature pasteurization process based upon the composition
of the egg product. Each month one egg sample per process is collected from each plant that produces
eggs products and is analyzed at FSIS Field Service Laboratories for the presence of Salmonella.
Thus, an egg products production plant could be sampled up to seven times per month depending on the
number of production processes occurring during the month.
In 1995, the first year of testing by FSIS, the percent Salmonella detected in the combined
results from the egg products project was 1.63. With few exceptions the percent positive rate for
Salmonella in pasteurized egg products has dropped each year. The 2007 testing results for
pasteurized egg products showed a decrease of 0.07 percent positive for the presence of Salmonella.
Prior to 2008, results were reported for analyses of samples completed by the end of the calendar year.
Beginning January 2008, results will be posted to include all samples collected within the calendar year,
to better align FSIS' activities with those of other federal partners. The Agency does not anticipate
this change to have any effect on the results presented. In 2008, the percent positive of Salmonella
was 0.33 percent. Results from 2008 cannot be compared with results from previous years, because the
2008 results are reported based on the collection date of the samples, unlike previous years, where
the results were reported based on analyses completion date. The overall results illustrating the
decrease from 1995 through 2007 and the Salmonella positives observed in 2008 are illustrated
in Figure 1 (PDF Only).
Table 1 | PDF
shows the results by year for each of the seven projects. Over the fourteen years, there have been
noticeable differences in the percent of positive samples among projects.
During the fourteen years that FSIS has been analyzing pasteurized egg products, there have been a
total of 95 positive samples. FSIS obtained Serotype information on 80 of these positive isolates.
The Serotype data are presented in Table 2 |
PDF. Table 2 shows the most common Serotype to be Heidelberg, followed by Enteritidis.
FSIS is providing links to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
data on the serotypes isolated from human cases of salmonellosis so that the reader has easy access to data
on both the serotypes found in pasteurized egg products and those causing human illness:
Contact Information:
Food Safety and Inspection Service
Office of Public Health Science
Microbiology Division
Priscilla Levine, Staff Officer
Phone: (202) 690-6369
FAX: (202) 690-6364
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Last Modified:
May 8, 2009 |
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