20 



BULLETIlSr 391^ U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



Contamination of the product during manufacture was minimized. 

 The rooms in wliich the eggs were broken were Hned with concrete, 

 the walls were enameled in wliite, and all the windows were kept 

 closed so that dust could not enter. As an additional precaution the 

 windows were at least triple paned for insulation. All utensils were 

 frequently washed and sterihzed and clean apparatus was substituted 

 during breaking whenever any utensil was contaminated by a bad 

 egg. The two principal extraneous sources of bacteria which could 

 not be controlled entirely were the shells of the eggs and the fingers 

 of the breaker. By washing the hands after breaking a bad egg, and 

 by frequently drying the fingers on tissue paper, the number of 

 bacteria derived from these sources was greatly minimized. 



The presence of bacteria in commercial frozen and desiccated eggs 

 is due to two causes, namely, contamination during preparation and 

 the quality of the raw material used. In Department Bulletin 224 it 

 was shown that improperly cleaned utensils and faulty manipulation 

 of the egg during breaking contributed many bacteria to the product 

 during the process of preparation. In Department Bulletins 51 and 

 224, and in the present paper, it has been shown that the bacterial 

 count of the finished product decreases in proportion to the quality 

 of the eggs used. 



Table XI. — Laboratory findings in composite samites of individual eggs graded as good. 



Sam- 

 ple 

 No. 



Num- 

 ber of 

 eggs in 

 sample. 



Num- 

 ber of 

 eggs in 

 sample 



con- 

 tribut- 

 ing bac- 

 teria.i 



Bacteria per gram on plain agar 

 Incubated at — 



Gas-producing 

 bacteria per 

 gram in lac- 

 tose bile. 



Eggs 

 contam- 

 ing gas- 

 pro- 

 ducing 

 bacte- 

 ria. 



Ammoniacal 

 nitrogen. 



Mois- 

 ture. 



20° C. 



37° C. 



Wet 

 basis. 



Dry 



basis. 





41142 



69 

 72 

 68 

 67 

 68 

 39 

 72 

 67 

 66 

 68 

 64 

 65 

 58 

 65 

 63 

 59 

 69 

 - 68 

 55 

 60 

 62 

 60 

 65 

 69 

 69 

 70 

 69 

 71 

 64 











1 







2 



1 



1 

 14 







2 



1 



3 



8 



2 

 10 







3 



3. 

 55 



5 



5 



5 



5 



6 



4 



9 



7 



15 

 52 



Less than 100 



Less than 10 



ISO 



650 



600 



Less than 100 



600, 000 



13,000,000 



130, 000 



410 



55, 000 



7,500,000 



19, 000 



65, 000 



3,200,000 



1,200,000 



1,700 



40, 000 



Less than 100 



Less than 10 



Less than 10 



550 



Less than 100 



Less than 100 



490, 000 



10,000,000 



98, 000 



340 



37,000 



8,100,000 



19, 000 



58,000 



350,000 



13,000 



1,000 



50, 000 



Less than 100 











100 



Less than 100 











1,000 





 

 1 







1 

 

 

 7 

 



1 







1 

 1 



1 



3 

 



4 



23" 



1 

 3 

 4 

 2 

 2 

 1 

 

 

 

 



P.ct. 

 0. 0019 

 .0013 

 .0015 

 .0024 

 .0018 

 .0015 

 .0022 

 .0018 

 .0018 



P.ct. 



P.ct. 



41143 

 41144 

 41145 

 41146 

 41147 

 41148 



0. 0048 

 .0055 

 .0087 

 .0067 

 .0057 



72.87 

 72.96 

 72.45 

 72.96 

 73.21 



41149 

 41161 



.0066 

 .0074 



72.64 

 75.59 



41164 











10,000 



1,000 















100 



Less than 100 



73.34 



41167 









41169 

 41175 

 41178 

 41180 

 41182 

 41185 



.0011 

 .0021 

 .0018 

 .0021 

 .0024 

 .0022 

 .0018 

 .0020 

 .0015 

 .0022 

 .0022 

 .0021 

 .0017 

 .0020 

 .0014 



.0040 

 .0076 

 .0065 

 .0076 

 .0089 



72.34 

 72.22 

 72.34 

 72.28 

 73.11 



41189 

 41192 



.0067 

 .0076 

 .0055 

 .0081 

 .jX)80 



73.25 

 73.69 



41316 

 41435 

 41438 

 41505 



Less than 1,000 



52, 000 



2, 400, 000 



410, 000 



3,500 



140, 000 



1,100 



3,100,000 



17,000 



14,000,000 



Less than 1,000 



53,000 



2,200,000 



430, 000 



1,000 



170,000 



1,100 



550 



400 



10,000,000 



10 



10,000 



500,000 







1,000 























72.70 

 72.82 

 72.38 



41506 

 41509 

 41551 

 41594 



.0063 

 .0074 

 .0052 



73.17 

 72.85 

 73.13 



41598 

 41645 



.0021 

 .0015 



.0074 

 .0054 



7L69 

 72.05 



1 The bacterial counts of these eggs are given in Table IX. 



