Surface Treatment of Eggshells with Low-Energy Electron Beam

Background: Salmonella enteritidis (SE) was the main cause of the pandemic of foodborne salmonellosis. The surface of eggs’ shells can be contaminated with this bacterium; however, washing them with sodium hypochlorite solution not only reduces their flavor but also heavily impacts the environment. An alternative to this is surface sterilization using low-energy electron beam. It is known that irradiation with 1 kGy resulted in a significant 3.9 log reduction (reduction factor of 10,000) in detectable SE on the shell. FAO/IAEA/WHO indicates irradiation of any food commodity up to an overall average dose of 10 kGy presents no toxicological hazard. On the other hand, the Food and Drug Administration has deemed a dose of up to 3 kGy is allowable for eggs. However, the maximum dose permitted to be absorbed by an edible part (i.e. , internal dose) is 0.1 Gy in Japan and 0.5 Gy in European Union. Materials and Methods: The electron beam (EB) depth dose distribution in the eggshell was calculated by the Monte Carlo method. The internal dose was also estimated by Monte Carlo simulation and experimentation. Results and Discussion: The EB depth dose distribution for the eggshells indicated that acceleration voltages between 80 and 200 kV were optimal for eggshell sterilization. It was also found that acceleration voltages between 80 and 150 kV were suitable for reducing the internal dose to ≤ 0.10 Gy. Conclusion: The optimum irradiative conditions for sterilizing only eggshells with an EB were between 80 and 150 kV.