Introduction
The association of Salmonella spp., particularly Salmonella enteyitidis, with
shell eggs is well recognized. The survival of these organisms in eggs
under some environmental and cooking conditions has been investigated
previously,’ but there is little data on the efficacy of cooking using microwave
ovens.
We have recently been involved in a family outbreak of gastroenteritis,
when all four family members (father, mother and two children) developed
acute diarrhoea within 12 h of each other. Faecal samples were obtained
from the whole family, and S. enteritidis PT4 was isolated in each case. A
food history was taken, and although not proven microbiologically, the
source was thought to be poached eggs which had been cooked in a
microwave oven. The family were adamant that they had followed the
cooking instructions given in the recipe book purchased with the appliance
used. We could find no published data on the microbiological safety of eggspoached in a microwave oven, so we undertook this study to examine the
survival of Salmonella spp. in eggs cooked using this method.