PREPARATION OF FROZEN AND DRIED EGGS. 



63 



A second shipment of checked eggs, which had been in commerce, as was the other 

 shipment cited, but obtained from a different shipper, gave similar results. The 

 product was of lower quality than the average output of this house; hence the pur- 

 chase of such eggs was promptly discontinued. 



Visit No. 6 (August 19 to 24). 



The sixth and last visit was made when, owing to the lateness of the egg-laying 

 season, the receipts were very light. 



The candlers had become careless because the tag system of checking had been 

 abolished when the force was decreased. The work of the breakers, however, was 

 as good as during the last visit, because the organization and routine of the breaking 

 room was not changed even though the number of girls had been reduced. 



The quality of the breaking stock had not improved, consequently the counts of 

 samples procured on the fifth and sixth visits were practically the same; the average 

 count of the 10 samples of mixed egg taken the latter half of July was 1,400,000 per 

 gram; of the same number of samples collected during the visit under discussion, it 

 Was 1,700,000 organisms per gram (Table D-II, Appendix, p. 96). 



During this visit a gravity type trough separator for whites and yolks was tried. 

 This device did not prove mechanically successful for separating warm-weather eggs. 

 Samples of white and yolk separated by the trough method, both during its experi- 

 mental stage and after its perfection, gave the counts listed in Table 29. If the results 

 under visits 2 and 5 be compared with the counts for similar periods in Table D-III 

 (Appendix, p. 98), which gives whites and yolks separated by the shell method, it will 

 be observed that in all cases there are fewer bacteria in the samples separated by the 

 trough method. This is particularly true of the number of B. coli. 



Table 29. — Commercial samples of whites and yolks— Trough method of separation 



(D house, 1912). 



Sample 

 No. 



Description and size of sample.- 



Date of 

 collec- 

 tion. 



Bacteria per 



gram on plain 



agar incubated 



at— 



Gas-pro- 

 ducing 

 bacteria 

 per gram 

 in lactose 

 bile. 



Ammoniacal 

 nitrogen 

 (Folin 

 method). 



Mois- 

 ture. 





20° C. 



37° C. 



Wet 



basis. 



Dry 



basis. 





4403 



Visit No. 2. 



May 27 

 ...do 



il,600 

 11,200 



2320,000 

 2100,000 

 2360,000 

 2110,000 



27,000 

 300,000 

 600,000 

 650,000 



490,000 

 800, 000 



150 

 400 



190,000 



150,000 



330, 000 



90,000 



22,000 

 180,000 

 650,000 

 600,000 



360,000 

 650,000 



10 

 UO 



21,000 



21,000 



2 1,000 



2 in 100 



1,000 



1,000 











1,000 

 10,000 



Per ct. 



0.0004 



.0033 



Per ct. 



0.0031 



.0072 



Per ct. 

 87.10 



4404 



Yolks of No. 4403, 15 pounds 



54.15 



4861 



Visit No. 5. 



Whites, seconds and cracked eggs, 

 20 pounds 



July 29 

 ...do 





4862 



Yolks of No. 4861, 20 pounds 



.0030 



.0068 



56.05 



4868 



Whites, seconds, 13 pounds 



July 30 

 ...do 





4869 



Yolks of No. 4868, 11 pounds 



.0037 



.0083 



55.42 



41005 



Visit No. 6. 

 Whites, seconds, 25 pounds 



Aug. 19 

 ...do 





41006 



Yolks of No. 41005, 15 pounds 



.0029 

 .0003 

 .0030 



.0067 

 .0023 

 .0065 



56.66 



41011 





...do 



86.96 



41012 



Yolks of No. 41011, 13 pounds 



...do 



53.64 



41026 



Whites, seconds and cracked eggs, 



Aug. 20 

 ...do 





41027 



Yolks of No. 41026, 30 pounds 



.0027 



.0075 



64.06 











i Comparable figures obtained by the shell method of separation (Table D III, p. 98, Appendix) vary 

 from 15,000 to 950,000 bacteria in the yolks and from 60,000 to 1,500,000 in the whites, B. coli varying from 

 100 to 10,000. 



2 Comparable figures from the same source show a maximum bacterial content of 650,000 for the whites, 

 2,100,000 for the yolks, and from 100 to 1,000,000 B. coli— a, pronounced superiority of the trough-separated 

 product. 



By the shell method the egg, during the shifting of the yolk from one half shell to 

 the other, is sure to come in contact with the fingers of the breaker and the outside 

 of the shells, both of which, as foregoing statements have proved, are serious sources 

 of contamination. By the trough method the egg, on the other hand ; comes in con- 

 tact with practically nothing except the cup and separator, both of which can be kept 

 clean by frequent sterilizing. 



