When your foodservice customers order eggs sunny-side up, scrambled, or in an omelet, are you putting them at risk for foodborne illness?

Cooked eggs may not reach a temperature that destroys viruses such as avian influenza or bacteria such as Salmonella enteritidis. Your foodservice kitchen may even be using raw eggs in Hollandaise sauce or Caesar salad dressing, introducing foodborne illness risks to your guests. Read more facts about Salmonella and eggs in the Field Guide to Egg Safety.

When is an egg safe from Salmonella?

So, at what temperature is an egg no longer considered “raw” or “undercooked”? An egg is considered fully cooked—that is, safe from foodborne illness—when it has reached a temperature of 155°F for pooled, hot holding or for later service. Over hard eggs, for example, have reached this temperature. However, foodservice customers are far more likely to order eggs sunny-side up. Eggs served this way represent the lowest cooked temperature of any egg option, only reaching a temperature between 75°F and 104°F.

Balancing safe egg temperature and quality

Omelets and scrambled eggs are also common culprits in Salmonella enteritidis outbreaks. Your foodservice guests don’t want dry, rubbery eggs, but cooking them softer carries with it the risk of Salmonella contamination. The fact is, the majority of the ways foodservice operations prepare eggs do not result in fully-cooked eggs.

Salmonella, eggs, and the CDC

The number of Salmonella outbreaks originating from foodservice kitchens is the reason the CDC pays special attention to how eggs are stored, prepared, and staged in foodservice kitchens. The CDC says dangerous egg-handling procedures are putting foodservice guests at risk of foodborne illness. They urge foodservice operators to use pasteurized shell eggs. Read more: CDC “Cracks Down” on Unpasteurized Eggs in Restaurants.

Pasteurized shell eggs—safe at any temperature

Currently, only about 1 in 5 restaurants uses pasteurized eggs, according to the CDC. Because the FDA does not consider pasteurized shell eggs a TCS (potentially hazardous) food, Davidson’s Safest Choice® pasteurized shell eggs greatly simplify your egg HACCP plan, help you stay in regulatory compliance, and allow you to safely serve eggs in your foodservice operation any style your customers want.

Technology has been and can be a huge asset to many businesses. In today’s society, there are so many different technological tools and resources to make your business better. Oftentimes what businesses don’t consider is how these tools can help retrieve the information they need to increase productivity and customer communication which will ultimately increase their profits. Examples of these tools include, loyalty programs, gift cards and email marketing. These different options help to benefit your company by extending reach, creating engagement, retaining customers and receiving feedback. Loyalty programs, gift cards and e-mail marketing are ways to help to focus on your current clients by retrieving information about their visit and notifying them about potential offers and deals. The goal is to keep your current customers loyal and happy which will result in increased sales and revenue.

Another benefit of these technological tools is that they provide vital customer data which can be used to help to grow your business. Wi-Fi is an example of a technological tool that provides customer data which can help grow your business. Wi-Fi is no longer and “added plus” but is something that is expected to be included in most operating businesses. This form of technology will not only benefit your customers but will benefit your business as well. According to the media company, Examiner.com, “There is no better purpose for an organization to provide a good experience to their customers and information technology helps provide the infrastructure to manage customer data.” When customers connect to a supplier’s Wi-Fi it gives the customer a good experience and in return the supplier is able to retrieve and manage customer data and customer feedback. This new information is a huge asset because now as a business you are able to use the collected data to conduct market research. The market research will help to inform your business what you need improve upon and where you need to move your focus to keep your customers loyal. Without having this data as a business you are lacking vital information that has the potential to help maintain and grow your company.

Almost all businesses want to use technology; however, most of them don’t want to deal with the labor that comes with it. Unfortunately there have not been many efficient ways when it comes to growing a company’s user base due to the manual process it takes to collect and enter this data. There is no need for a business to hold the responsibility of manually collecting and calculating the loyalty, proximity and usage of a customer. Oftentimes this leads businesses to avoid these tools altogether. What they don’t understand is that by avoiding these tools altogether; they are lacking vital information that has the potential to help their business grow tremendously. Luckily, there are companies like Captive Eyes who help to create that interactive experience for your customers, while automating data collection for third party systems. Technology is a beautiful thing and if used efficiently can benefit your business greatly, increasing sales and profits.