An Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientist in Pennsylvania and his colleagues have developed a technology that rapidly pasteurizes eggs and could sharply reduce the number of illnesses caused each year by egg-borne Salmonella bacteria.
The device invented by David Geveke, a chemical engineer at the ARS Food Safety and Intervention Technologies Research Unit in Wyndmoor, uses radio frequency (RF) waves to heat eggs and kill Salmonella without damaging the delicate egg whites. Partners include Christopher Brunkhorst, an electrical engineer from the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory in Princeton, New Jersey.
Salmonella is associated with eating undercooked eggs or the raw eggs used in Caesar salad, eggnog, and Béarnaise and hollandaise sauces. Salmonellosis, as the infection is known, can cause diarrhea, stomach cramps, and fever, and can sometimes be fatal. Infants, preschoolers, pregnant women, and the elderly are more susceptible, and pasteurized eggs are often marketed to nursing homes and other institutional kitchens. But less than 3 percent of the 74 billion fresh eggs produced in the United States each year are pasteurized.
Source: To read the rest of the story, please go to: USDA AgResearch Magazine