Friday, March 17, 2006
Bird flu scare makes pasteurized eggs a hot commodity
As more and more areas around the globe report bird flu infections, more consumers are turning to pasteurized eggs. The pasteurization process destroys harmful bacteria, including salmonella, making it safe for all egg preparations, whether cooked or raw.
This same pasteurization process destroys viruses including Avian Influenza, also known as bird flu. Food preparation companies, restaurants, caterers, bakeries etc. are moving to pasteurized eggs to try and stem any backlash from the consumer against poultry products like eggs, because of bird flu fears.
Companies who are in the business of egg pasteurization are having to ramp up their production rates to try and keep up with increased demand. Most of these companies are reporting demand increases of 35+ percent. In non bird flu times this sort of increase would be unheard of.
The egg pasteurization process has been around long before the current bird flu scare, but until now, the eggs going through this process were bought mostly by restaurants who wanted to remove the possibility of salmonella and other harmful bacteria from the food prep process. Because sick customers make for bad business.
So the next time you are in your local grocery store you will understand why non-pasteurized eggs are being replaced by their pasteurized cousins.