Assessment of the risk of salmonellosis from internally contaminated shell eggs following initial storage at 18 °C (65 °F), compared with 7 °C (45 °F)

•Some eggs originally intended for broiler production may be diverted to human consumption.•Diverted eggs could be stored at 18.3 °C after lay even though the Egg Safety Rule imposes storage at 7.2 °C.•We modeled the risk of salmonellosis from consumption of pasteurized eggs held at 7.2 °C or 18.3 °C prior to pasteurization.•The predicted risk is 25 times higher if eggs are stored at 18.3 °C after lay than if stored at 7.2 °C.

In the U.S., chicken-breeder farms that supply hatcheries typically store and transport eggs intended for broiler production at a temperature of 18.3 °C (65 °F). However, in case of surplus, some of these eggs may be diverted to human consumption. According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's ‘Egg Safety Final Rule,’ shell eggs intended for human consumption are required to be held or transported at or below 7.2 °C (45 °F) ambient temperature beginning 36 h after time of lay. We adapted a risk assessment model developed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety Inspection Service, to quantify human exposure to Salmonella Enteritidis and the risk of human salmonellosis if eggs are held and transported at 18.3 °C for up to 5.5 days after time of lay, as has been observed when hatchery eggs are diverted to human consumption, rather than held and transported at 7.2 °C within 36 h after time of lay. Storage at 18.3 °C leads to considerable bacterial growth in internally contaminated eggs. The model predicted that more than 10% of internally contaminated eggs would remain contaminated after in-shell pasteurization resulting in a 5-log10 reduction, and that some bacteria would survive after home-cooking. The model predicted that, alternatively, eggs stored at 7.2 °C after lay would have limited bacterial growth prior to pasteurization, and Salmonella would be very unlikely to be present after pasteurization. The predicted risk of salmonellosis from the consumption of eggs held and transported at 18.3 °C and subsequently diverted to human consumption is 25 times higher than the risk when eggs are held and transported at 7.2 °C.