PREPARATION OP FROZEN" AND DRIED EGGS. 51 



saved, but bad eggs, detectable by the candle, were practically eliminated from the 

 shell eggs used for food purposes. 



The girls were doing exemplary work. The fact that laboratory results proved 

 that portions of the No. 1 product contained eggs which properly belonged in the No. 2 

 liquid eggs, or perhaps tanners' grade, was not to their discredit, because of the prac- 

 tical impossibility of making three grades of eggs. 



A sixth series of samples taken from the grading tables showed irregular results. 

 The whites contained 29,000 bacteria, as compared with 5,300,000 in the yolks. 

 The soft eggs, however, had only 130,000, which number proved that these eggs were 

 being graded carefully. The sample of second-grade eggs showed considerably less 

 infection and less decomposition than usual; the bacterial content was 10,000,000 

 per gram, and the percentage of ammoniacal nitrogen was 0.0052 on the dry basis. 

 The chemical analysis also proved that this product contained 84 per cent of drip, or 

 albumen. The latter always gives a low percentage of ammoniacal nitrogen and, in 

 many cases, low bacterial counts. Three samples of drip taken during this interval 

 gave the variable counts of 10,000, 240,000, and 13,000,000 per gram. 



In order to determine the cause of the high counts observed in the dried product 

 prepared on the previous visit, seven samples of mixed egg before drying were taken. 

 The laboratory examination gave, as shown in Table F-III, a minimum number of 

 700,000 and a maximum of 3,700,000 per gram. In no case was the percentage of am- 

 moniacal nitrogen excessive. It would appear from these results that the bacterial 

 content of the liquid stock did not account for the large numbers found in the desic- 

 cated product. Six samples of dried yolks and 11 of desiccated mixed egg gave, as 

 shown in Tables F-II and F-I V (Appendix, pp. 81 and 83), in all but three cases, 

 counts varying from 14,000,000 to 200,000,000 per gram. 



Three series of samples taken of the product before and after drying showed, in 

 two cases, as given in Table F- VI (Appendix, p. 85), under visit No. 4, a considerable 

 multiplication of bacteria in the eggs during desiccation, the counts increasing from 

 about 1,000,000 to 36,000,000 and 50,000,000 per gram. There was no apparent increase 

 while the egg was subjected to the process of secondary drying. 



The foregoing data indicate that the high counts found in some of the samples of 

 the final dried product were due to the development of bacteria in the liquid egg 

 during desiccation. The preparation of dried eggs was discontinued shortly after 

 this visit, hence the study of the conditions leading to the increased number of organ- 

 isms during desiccation could not be continued in this plant. 



Visit No. 5 {July 22 to 27). 



The fifth visit to this house was made during the week beginning July 22, 1912. 

 The breaking stock was composed of about one-half firsts and one-half a mixture of 

 seconds and checks. 



There was a large number of badly deteriorated eggs in receipts, due to the hot 

 July weather. The candlers, with few exceptions, were doing good work. The 

 breakers were handling the eggs in a clean manner and, to all appearances, were 

 grading the eggs properly. 



Two series of samples representing egg as it left the breakers, as recorded in Table 21, 

 gave the usual variable results. The counts of the white and yolk in the first series 

 were higher than was found in any two similar samples taken during the season of 1912, 

 over 7,000,000 per gram. The fact that the laboratory found no B. coli in the whites 

 and only 10 in the yolks indicates that the technic of breaking was clean. The large 

 number of bacteria may, perhaps, be accounted for by the low quality of July receipts. 

 The soft eggs contained half as many and the second grade practically the same number 

 of organisms as were found in whites and yolks. The percentage of ammoniacal 

 nitrogen was slightly higher in the second-grade product than in the soft eggs. A 

 second series of samples gave results very different from those just described. The 

 whites and yolks contained comparatively few organisms, but the soft eggs and the 

 second-grade product, on the other hand, had 63,000,000 and 92,000,000, respec- 

 tively. The amount of protein decomposition in the two latter samples was large, as 

 would be expected from the high counts above. The two series of samples taken on 

 the same day, but from different tables, illustrate well the irregularity of the grading. 

 The girls were conscientious, experienced egg breakers. The results, therefore, show 

 very strikingly the practical impossibility of commercially making two uniform grades 

 of food egg. 



Table F-VII (Appendix, p. 86) gives the laboratory results of nine samples of 

 sugared yolks taken from the mixing churns. Some of the lots were broken from 

 firsts, others from seconds, and still others from a mixture of firsts, seconds, and cracked 

 eggs. The lowest count was 34,000 from firsts and the highest 2,400,000 from checks. 



