GAINESVILLE, Ga. — The University of Georgia’s Poultry Science Extension recently held its annual Georgia Layer Conference, with a back in-person event after several years as a virtual conference. Industry professionals, like Deana Jones, came together to discuss current issues facing the industry.
Jones is the director of the U.S. National Poultry Research Center and a research food technologist in the Egg Safety and Quality Research Unit of the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service in Athens, Ga.
For more than 20 years, she has served in this role, examining the impacts of egg production practices, shell egg and egg product processing methods, and rules and regulations on egg safety and quality. So, it only makes sense that her conference presentation would be about egg quality and safety management, with a focus on egg cracks.
She opened her presentation with a brief explanation of the importance of teamwork in the industry. Everyone plays a role in preventing cracked eggs; no one sector is more responsible for cracks than another.
“Production plus processing equals safe, high quality, affordable eggs,” Jones said. “It’s an incredibly affordable, nutrient-packed food, even when egg prices increase, it’s still a very affordable food product for consumers.”
Because, at the end of the day, the industry’s main goal is to get the best available products to the consumers.
To give the audience a better understanding of how cracks may form, Jones started at the beginning of the process, with the hen. Like anything biological, nothing with the egg laying process is perfect. Sometimes eggs can come out with a chalky substance, calcium carbonate, on the top or bottom of the egg.
This usually means that “the full laying of the shell did not go as planned,” Jones said. “That can happen because of a physiological stress, it can happen because of a disease instance, it can happen because of something getting messed up in the feed mill.”
Although these collections of calcium carbonate won’t necessarily affect the egg’s USDA grade, they are an indication of eggs with thin shells.
“If those get tapped along the process in our processing equipment or on the belts…it can end up leading to pinpoint cracks or being a full crack,” Jones said.
Housing systems
She continued her presentation by discussing how housing systems and equipment can impact egg quality. Housing systems can affect the birds in various ways, as well as the eggs.
“We need to get the birds to be in a safe and healthy environment and we need to get eggs out of those birds that are safe and wholesome and of high quality; that’s continuous no matter which housing system we’re using,” Jones noted.
When thinking about housing systems, it’s important to also keep nest box management in mind. With larger cage-free and enriched colony housing systems, how eggs are moving out and within those systems can influence the potential for cracks to form.
“The more eggs that congregate in the space, the more the hens can interact with the eggs, the higher the likelihood that cracking is going to occur,” Jones said.
An unusual problem in these housing systems that can lead to cracked or damaged eggs is egg eating. This is when hens, for whatever reason, peck and break eggs to taste them as they roll by. Once it starts, you can’t stop it, and it can become aggressive.
“All it takes is one hen breaking an egg and acting like she thinks it’s yummy and then all of her peers want to follow the leader,” Jones added.
Unfortunately, the only way to stop egg eating is by terminating the flock. So, if producers don’t keep the hens away from freshly laid eggs, they could lose a flock’s worth of eggs and the whole flock.
Another place where cracks can occur is along the belting in these facilities. Producers are very efficient when it comes to moving eggs and getting them into the processing facilities. However, this efficiency can lead to micro cracks.
“We’re not necessarily going to see them visible the day that it occurs, but if we put them in a cooler and look at them the next day, we’re going to see it,” Jones said.
Micro cracks are so evasive that eggs with them can make it past inspections. The USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service has inspectors who go to processing facilities to check the eggs, as a part of the grading process. A technique they use during this process is called “belling,” where they tap eggs together to listen for cracks.
“A shell with a crack in it will actually make a little dull noise when it’s gently tapped together,” Jones noted.
Despite this technique and others like it, eggs with micro cracks make it out of the processing plant to stores where consumers will notice them.
A major problem with these micro cracks is when eggs are being put into the drop set right before going into the cartons. When these eggs with micro cracks are dropped into the cartons, they can completely break, getting egg yolk everywhere and contaminating everything.
Once one egg breaks, every clean egg after it is dropped into the yolk, turning them into dirty eggs.
“Egg meat on the outside of a processed egg is considered a dirty egg and that would go against you for grading purposes,” Jones said.
Once the eggs make it through processing, packaging is the next best way to prevent egg cracks. Unfortunately, though, customers come back to a product because of packaging, not how well a carton can prevent cracks.
Because of this, companies must think about the best ways to appease customers when they ask for a particular type of carton. When customers ask for something, it’s the company’s job to find a way to do it, while successfully delivering safe eggs.
Why cracks matter
Jones concluded her presentation with a discussion on why cracks matter. The four main reasons she touched on were grade standards, consumer perception, microbiological aspects, and physical qualities.
“We have 49 state egg laws in the United States, and then we have those who [opt in] to voluntary USDA Agricultural Marketing Service grading standards,” Jones said. Most of them use the AMS grading standards as the basis for their egg laws. Despite this, some things still vary from state to state.
As mentioned earlier, large cracks and full breaks will definitely affect the USDA grading of eggs, but the grading standards allow a certain percentage of cracked eggs in the processing facility and at retail. This is because they know cracks can happen, no matter how much precaution a company takes.
As for consumer perception, consumers will not be happy if they pay money for cracked eggs, especially as egg prices continue to rise. No matter what happens between the eggs leaving the facility and the consumer eating them, it will always be the company’s fault if the eggs are cracked, Jones noted, adding that consumers will go back to the grocery store to complain, and those complaints are going to come back to the processing plants. Also, in this digital age, there is always a chance that consumers will go to social media to criticize a company’s eggs if they have cracks, or anything remotely wrong.
Throughout her presentation, Jones spoke about microorganisms and eggs. Microorganisms want to get to the yolk, and one slight crack in the shell gives them access.
“The shell is the first line of defense for external … contamination,” Jones said. When it’s not cracked, nothing is getting through that shell.
Food safety
The main reason she brought up microorganisms getting through cracks and into eggs is because it is a big food safety issue.
“We’ve had far more salmonella recalls associated with eggs in recent years than we’ve had in the past,” Jones mentioned. “People of different ilks will decide whether or not they’re going to consume a cracked egg.”
Some of the bacteria that can get into these eggs can even cause mold to grow between the shell and shell membrane and quicker spoilage rate of the eggs. For these reasons, it’s important for farms and companies to diligently check their eggs for cracks.
Jones’ final reason for why cracks matter was the eggs’ physical qualities. The first thing she mentioned was an egg’s gas exchange rate. The gas exchange rate refers to the process of diffusion through the eggshell, allowing oxygen to go in and carbon dioxide to go out.
“The gas exchange rate changes in the egg when you have cracked the shell,” Jones said. “So, gas exchange is very important, because it … helps control the change in the pH of the egg, which in turn impacts egg quality.”
Another physical quality that can be impacted by egg cracks is the strength of the vitelline membrane.
“Vitelline membrane is the membrane that encapsulates the yolk,” Jones said. “As the vitelline membrane weakens, it’s easier for microorganisms to penetrate the membrane. When it’s a fresh and very vigorous vitelline membrane, it is difficult for microorganisms to go through.”
The weakening of the membrane would happen naturally as the egg ages, but a crack in the shell will speed up the natural process. A weak membrane can also be a problem for consumers.
“The biggest concern is a consumer wants a yolk intact until they decide it doesn’t need to be intact anymore,” Jones said.
Just like with cracks, it will always be the company’s fault if the yolk is broken when consumers crack open the eggs. Jones and her team have started using a new technique to ensure the best eggs get to consumers.
“We now have added to our testing parameters, slicing whole eggs, hard-cooked whole eggs … because this is a very consumer-friendly aspect,” Jones noted.
This technique will show producers exactly what a consumer would see when they hard boil and slice their eggs, allowing them to address any problems before the eggs leave the facility.
To wrap up her presentation, Jones reminded everyone that it takes teamwork to produce safe, high-quality eggs. It’s not production versus processing but rather production plus processing when it comes to high-quality eggs. Everyone must do their part.
To read about the entire Georgia Layer Conference, check out HPAI and egg quality among focus topics of Georgia Layer Conference.
