Contributions to the Knowledge of Microbiological Quality of Pasteurized Melange Produced in Romania

Today's consumers show an affinity for quality products produced under production conditions that strictly observes the principles of food safety. Bacterial contamination of eggs and egg products can thus be a source of disease for the human consumer with the necessary effects on the sector of activity.The term "egg products" defines the components of the egg (separate or as a mixture-melange) released from their shell and submitted to a heat treatment, they are forming foods rich in protein, vitamins and trace elements of high quality . The purpose of this study was to establishing and monitoring the microbiological indicators of melange produced in our country. The study was carried out on the pasteurized egg mix, packaged "bag-in-box" (5 units package), and stored for a period of 25 days at the temperature recommended by the manufacturer (0 ... + 4 °C). The actual analysis is to determine NTGMA, Enterobacter spp., Bacillus spp., Pseudomonas spp., and Salmonella spp. Regarding developments of NTGMA in pasteurized melange stored for 25 days, our data showed an increase of 75.22% compared to the situation found on fresh product (3.656 log cfu/ml vs 6.406 log cfu/ml). The situation was similar for Enterobacter spp. (119.64% increase), Bacillus spp. (76.27% increase) and Pseudomonas spp. (58.72% increase). Salmonella spp. was not identified in the product tested by us. The heat treatment of pasteurized liquid melange does not destroy completely the initial microbial load, therefore certain precautions are needed to store these foods