Click on the underlined title to access the document or go back to the Search Results screen to download the PDF version.

If you are not an ASABE member or if your employer has not arranged for access to the full-text, Click here for options.

During commercial processing, eggs are washed in an alkaline detergent and then rinsed with chlorine to reduce dirt, debris, and microorganism levels. The alkaline and acidic electrolyzed oxidizing (EO) water have the ability to fit into the two-step commercial egg washing process if proven to be successful. Therefore, the efficacy of EO water to decontaminate Salmonella Enteritidis and Escherichia coli K12 on artificially inoculated shell eggs was investigated. For the in-vitro study, eggs were soaked in alkaline EO water followed by soaking in acidic EO water at various temperatures and times. Treated eggs showed a reduction between =0.6 and =2.6 log10 CFU/g shell for S. Enteritidis and =0.9 and =2.6 log10 for E. coli K12. Log10 reductions of 1.7 and 2.0 for S. Enteritidis and E. coli K12, respectively, were observed for detergent/sanitizer treatments, whereas log10 reductions of =2.1 and =2.3 for S. Enteritidis and E. coli K12, respectively, were achieved using the EO water treatment. For the pilot scale study, EO water was compared with the detergent/sanitizer treatment using E. coli K12. Log10 reductions of = 2.98 and = 2.91 were found using the EO water treatment and the detergent/sanitizer treatment, respectively. The effects of treatments on egg quality were investigated. EO water and detergent/sanitizer treatments were found to have no significant effect on albumen height and eggshell strength; however, there were significant affects on cuticle presence. All these results indicate that EO water has the potential to be used as a sanitizing agent for the egg washing process.