Handling Guidelines

Food preparation workers should follow these simple steps to make sure the eggs they are preparing are safe to eat.

  1. Follow an approved sanitation programme whenever food is prepared and don’t compromise it by taking short cuts.
  2. Wash your hands with hot, soapy water every time food is prepared.
  3. Use only sanitized utensils, equipment and work areas even if they have just been used for another food.
  4. Wash and sanitize utensils used for eggs before reusing, even if for another egg dish.
  5.  Never mix any shell with raw eggs.
  6. Use only clean uncracked eggs.
  7. Don’t wash eggs before using them – this is done for you ahead of purchase.
  1. Keep eggs refrigerated until required.
  2. When ready to use, remove from refrigeration only those eggs that will be used within
    1-2 hours. Do not store eggs beside the grill, range or any source of heat.
  3. Separate egg shells from their contents with care and immediately discard the egg shells.
  4. Do not thaw frozen eggs or egg products at room temperature. Thaw only in the refrigerator.
  5. Use defrosted eggs promptly. Refrigerate any unused portions and use within 3 days.
  6. Use reconstituted eggs immediately or refrigerate and use within one hour.
  7. Whenever possible, cook eggs individually and refrigerate or in small batches and serve immediately.
  8. If egg dishes must be prepared in advance, hold cold egg dishes below 40°F (4.4°C). Hot egg dishes must be held above 140°F (60°C) on appropriate equipment until served or refrigerated immediately and brought down to a temperature of 40°F (4.4°C) or below within 4 hours. Hot egg dishes that have been refrigerated should be reheated at 165°F (74°C).
  9. Cook scrambled eggs in small batches of no more than 3 litres until no liquid egg is visible.
  10. Start fresh with a new steam table pan for each batch of eggs. Never add freshly cooked eggs to leftover eggs on the steam table.
  11. Partly cooked dishes (scrambled eggs, omelettes, soufflés etc.) should be cooked and served immediately. Mixtures used for these items should be kept refrigerated and the smallest practical batch size should be used.
  12. Always keep egg salad refrigerated. Mayonnaise based salads provide an ideal medium for bacterial growth. Keep ingredients for egg salad refrigerated until preparation time.
  13. For egg cooking, a good rule of thumb is that whole eggs should be cooked until the white and yolk are completely set.