TIME-TEMPERATURE RELATIONSHIPS OF BEEF PATTIES MADE WITH WHOLE EGG SOLIDS1

Whole egg solids are now manufactured in quantities so large that this item has been on the list of surplus foods. The use of these eggs in food production is somewhat limited because it is recommended (4, 10) that whole egg solids be used only in "thoroughly-cooked" menu · items because of salmonellae which might possibly be present in the egg (2, 11). Dack (5) has indicated that no methods have yet been developed that would guarantee fro. zen or dried egg products completely free of salmonellae. It must be expected that the heat treatment necessary to kill salmonellae is affected by, among other factors, the nature of the substrate in which the bacteria are suspended while being subjected to heating. Several researchers have studied the ther· mal death times on staphylococci and salmonellae when submitted to varying heat treatments in foods that are somewhat similar in type to beef patties. Wiedeman et al. (12) injected staphylococci and salmonella organisms into meat loaves. 'When the loaves were cooked to an internal temperature of 160°F, the number of bacteria was reduced from about 10 million to less than 100 per g of the raw meat loaf medium. Castellani et al (3) studied the temperature required to kill salmonellae and other bacteria in the interior portion of stuffed turkeys and several factors affecting the attainment of this temperature. From their observation the authors concluded that the roasting process should not be interrupted until a temperature of 165°F is reached in the center of the stuffing. Hussemann and Buyske (6) investigated the time-temperature relationships of Salmonella typhimurium in chicken muscle and concluded that the organism appeared to survive a higher temperature in chicken muscle than when broth was used as the menstruum. The salmonellae were reported to survive a 5-min exposure to 194°F, and were destroyed after a 10-min exposure to that temperature. Angelotti et al. (1) determined the thermal death times for salmonellae and staphylococci in certain proteinaceons f o o d s as custard, ham salad, and chicken ala king. The foods were subjected to tem-