Safety Concern over Raw Egg Dressings

The use of raw egg dressings is a food safety concern as they are often made in large batches and kept in service refrigerators which are opened and closed regularly during busy periods, compromising temperature control

Raw egg dressings and sauces such as mayonnaise, Caesar and tartare dressing and are widely used in the restaurant and café sector. Sauce dispensers are more often than not left out on a work surface during use for convenience, and regularly moved in and out of the refrigerator over a period of up to and over a week, resulting in repeated temperature abuse. Large outbreaks involving these dressings continue to occur.

A recent NSW outbreak from contaminated raw egg aioli which occurred in mid-2010 involved 179 cases.

Sydney City Council together with the NSW Food Authority conducted a survey on the microbiological quality and handling of raw egg dressings and sauces served in restaurants and cafes in the Sydney City Council local government area.  

In total 107 samples of raw egg products were collected from 46 premises:

• thirteen samples were classified unsatisfactory due to high standard plate counts and/or moderate levels of Bacillus cereus
• one sample of Caesar dressing was classified potentially hazardous due to a high level of B. cereus (31,000 cfu/g)
• Salmonella was not detected in any samples tested.

Information on food handling, product preparation, cleaning and sanitation and egg quality was obtained from 44 premises via on-site observation and questionnaire. The results show that:

• 10% of sauces were stored at ambient temperatures.
• 71% of samples had a temperature greater than 5°C (and less than 60°C)—constant movement of product in and out of refrigeration may be responsible for an elevated product temperature.
• 74% of products sampled were not date coded and 41% of products did not have a known shelf life policy at the time of inspection
• most premises who separated eggs did so by hand; four used gloved hands and 24 used bare hands. Six premises separated eggs using the shells. In general hand washing after handling eggs was not considered as important as washing hands after handling raw chicken or meat.
• 23% of premises had cracked or dirty eggs in storage and there seemed to be a distinct lack of knowledge about the quality of the egg, the risks associated with using cracked and dirty eggs, and the egg supplier.
• Only 52% of the food businesses stored whole eggs under 5°C.

Most businesses surveyed required improvement in:

• temperature control of raw egg products during and in between use
• date coding of raw egg products
• egg separation technique during processing to prevent cross contamination.

From: Food Surveillance News - Spring Edition

With the New NSW Food Authority Regulations that have come into this year, all food business in NSW require at least one trained food safety supervisor, this should greatly see the reduction in such unsafe food practices.

You can also view Queensland Health Fact Sheet on Egg Safety here.