Egg Handling

The risk of an egg being contaminated with Salmonella bacteria is very low, about 1 in 20,000 eggs. But there's no reason to take the risk of contracting foodborne illness. Proper handling of eggs can reduce, and even entirely eliminate, the risk.

Here are some links to help:

Eggs & Food Safety
Safe Food Handling Tips
Egg Tips & Tricks
Avian Influenza 

For additional information on eggs and food safety, call USDA's Meat and Poultry Hotline at 1 (888) 674-6874 or the egg nutrition media hotline at (312) 233-1211.

Choose a topic below to answer any concerns regarding safe food handling tips.

• What do I need to know about cleanliness in food preparation?
• What exactly is cross-contamination and what should I do about it?
• My friend passes the egg yolk back and forth from shell half to shell half when separating eggs. Is this the best way to separate eggs
• Doesn't cooking destroy bacteria? Is there any general rule for cooking eggs?
• How long should I cook eggs?
• Are there any food-safety recommendations for microwaving eggs?
• Is it true that acid can kill bacteria?
• What should I do about some of my favorite egg recipes that call for raw or lightly cooked eggs?
• Other than cooking them, are there alternatives for raw egg whites?
• How can pasteurized shell eggs be used?
• You can't cook ice cream, can you
• Once I've cooked an egg dish, can I leave it out for buffet serving
• Why is refrigeration important?
• What should I consider when buying eggs?
• What is the best way to store raw eggs?
• How should I store leftover egg whites and yolks?
• Can I freeze combination dishes containing eggs?
• How should I defrost frozen eggs, egg products and cooked egg dishes?
• What should I do with egg-containing leftovers?

You can also find usefull information at:

• The Incredible Edible Egg / www.incredibleegg.org
• Good Egg Project / www.goodeggproject.org
• Egg Safety Center / www.eggsafety.org
• Partnership for Food Safety Education / www.befoodsafe.org / www.fightbac.org
• United Egg Producers/ www.unitedegg.org
• Janitorial Cleaning Services: http://www.commercialofficecleaning.com/kitchen-clean-up.html