Food safety & eggs
Article provided by NAQ Nutrition’s Food Smart Schools program
We have had plenty of questions about food safety and eggs in the last week. We thought it is timely to share some of our top tips for food safety when using eggs.
Eggs are a nutritious food, but eggs that are not handled safely or that are cracked or dirty pose a food safety risk and are more likely to cause food poisoning.
Our top tips
- Avoid serving vulnerable people (the elderly, young children) products containing raw or partially cooked eggs.
- Never wash eggs. This can make the shells more porous and allow bacteria to more easily enter the egg.
- Store eggs in the fridge, in their carton.
- If you are separating egg whites from yolks, a good way to minimise contact between the shell and the contents of the egg is to use an egg separator.
- DoNOT consume or purchase eggs that are cracked, dirty or unstamped.
- Bacteria that causes food poisoning can enter eggs through cracks in the shell.
- Eggs should be individually stamped with the producer's unique identification.
For more information:
Queensland Department of Health - http://www.health.qld.gov.au/foodsafety/documents/fs-27-egg.pdf
Safe Food Production Qld - http://www.safefood.qld.gov.au/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&catid=122&id=643&Itemid=72
Find out more about Food Smart Schools – www.foodsmartschools.org
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