Page 45 - Food & Drink Business Magazine March 2019

MEAT, FISH & POULTRY
✷ SAFETY FIRST EGG FACTS
16.9 MILLION
NUMBER OF EGGS PRODUCED IN AUSTRALIA EVERY DAY
Australian Pasteurised Eggs director of commercial Geoff Sondergeld with pasteurised in-shell eggs, each stamped with a trademarked P symbol.
20+ NUMBER OF PEOPLE WITH SUSPECTED SALMONELLA
IN 2018, LINKED TO EGGS FROM A NSW FARM
500,000
EGGS A DAY PROCESSING CAPABILITY AT AUSTRALIAN PASTEURISED EGGS PROCESSING PLANT
99.99%
AMOUNT OF HARMFUL BACTERIA REDUCED IN THE CENTRE OF AN EGG YOLK BY PASTEURISATION
for non-pasteurised eggs. “It’s been quite a journey. We’ve been selling products
since early November but the journey to get there has taken a couple of years. In that time we built the facility, fitted it out with the necessary equipment, and then obviously obtained all the appropriate regulatory approval.”
HANDLE WITH CARE
The key market for pasteurised shell eggs at the moment is hospitals and aged-care facilities, Sondergeld says.
“Because of the salmonella risk associated with eggs, hospitals and aged-care homes generally do not serve eggs that are raw or partially cooked. Raw or partially cooked eggs include sunny side up, poached, scrambled and fried.”
After the initial focus on supplying pasteurised eggs to aged-cared and health facilities, along with some airline caterers, the next
sector on the company’s list to crack is hotels and the leisure industry.
“To grow we would develop market channels where there is demand,” Sondergeld says. “If that’s food manufacturing, then we would go down that path.”
As liquid egg pulp is most often used by large food manufacturers, Sondergeld says the equipment and processes in place are not geared to take egg in the shell. “We are in those areas where they still have the requirement to crack a shell egg.”
With food safety compliance a growing concern, the onus increasingly is on food companies to supply safe food, and this could soon include the use of pasteurised eggs for dishes such as sunny-side up, poached, or soft scrambled eggs styles and in recipes such as hollandaise, Caesar salad dressing, and other sauces.
If that's the case, the future looks sunny-side up for APE. ✷
www.foodanddrinkbusiness.com.au | March 2019 | Food&Drink business | 45