RESEARCH ▶▶▶
The design of the 128 cm long conveyor system used in this project is an example of how commercially processed eggs could be treated. Pulsed UV light was generated from a xenon flashlamp. The conveyor had a fixed speed of 4.8 cm/s, which resulted in a complete 360° rota- tion along the equator of the egg approximately every 17 cm. Pro- cessing time for a single pass was 26.7 seconds. The lamp pulsed 3 times (360 μs/pulse) per second emitting a polychromatic spec- trum (100–1,100 nm) with over 50% of the total energy deriving from the UV region.
Hatchability unaffected In addition to the food safety concerns of table eggs, the decontamination of hatching eggs is also important for maintaining good chick health. When hatching, chicks are exposed to micro-organisms present in the environment, including those on the surface of eggshells, some of which can be pathogenic. Therefore, the study also evaluated the effects of pulsed UV light treatment of hatching eggs on both embryo and chick growth. Using the same system, four batches of 125 fertile eggs were treated with the same and greater intensities of pulsed UV light. No significant negative effect was evident from the pulsed UV light treatment on the percentage of fertile eggs, hatchability or hatch, nor were there any significant effects on post-hatch observations, including chick livability and average bird weight. “Our research supports the application of pulsed ultraviolet light as an effective antimicrobial intervention for both table and hatching eggs,” says Cassar. “If the egg industry embraces pulsed ultraviolet light technology and applies it in its pro- cessing operations, food safety would be improved because
16 ▶ POULTRY WORLD | No. 3, 2021
of the reduced pathogen presence on the surface of the eggs.” Patterson confirmed that previous research undertaken by the team showed between 1 to 7 log reductions in Salmo- nella and E. coli depending on the organism and the intensity and duration of pulsed UV light exposure.
Ease of delivery The greatest advantage of this method of decontamination is its ease of delivery of the antimicrobial technology, says Patterson: “No chemicals to purchase, store, mix, deliver and dispose to the environment.” He further notes that the tech- nology is especially promising because it appears to have no negative consequences for the vital hatching egg compo- nent of the business, even at ten times the UV light intensity used in the table egg study. This, says Patterson, would im- prove chick health and would therefore, in turn, assist in eas- ing the financial constraints caused by poor chick quality re- sulting from chicks getting sick from early exposure to microbial pathogens. The study was published in Poultry Science.
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