Bahrain, US ‘process eggs differently'

TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

The farming and processing of eggs in the US is different from what is followed in Bahrain, GCC, UK, Europe and Australia, the General Poultry Company (GPC) confirmed yesterday. GPC was responding to a discussion on the subject “The need for egg washing machines” published by The Daily Tribune on 19 June (https://www.newsofbahrain.com/bahrain/73457. html ).

In his response, Dr Aneez Azeez, the Assistant Operations Manager of General Poultry Company, said: “In the US, eggs are washed and sprayed with a chemical sanitiser before they are sold to the public to minimise the risk of salmonella poisoning.”

He pointed out that while “washing an egg may leave it squeaky clean, it also compromises the integrity of the egg by damaging the protective coating that naturally envelops each egg and increases the chances of bacterial invasion.”

“We need to understand that the egg is a marvel in terms of protecting itself, and one of the protections is this coating (called the cuticle), which prevents them from being porous.

The coating is like a little safety vest for the egg, keeping water and oxygen in and bad bacteria out.” He told Tribune that Bahrain, GCC, Europe, Asia and Australia follow a different approach towards food safety. “Our priority is to produce clean eggs at the point of collection, through good management and hygiene of the poultry house rather than trying to clean them afterwards,” he said.

On the decision to float a tender to buy Egg Washing Machines, Dr Azeez said: “Many of our potential customers have specific requirements of fresh eggs to comply with US FDA norms which include the washing of eggs, and of course, ensuring optimal storage conditions to preserve the quality of our eggs.

At GPC, we endeavour to cater to the needs of our different customer segments. Hence our decision to float a tender for Egg Washing Machines.” He also clarified that GPC produces only white eggs at this point and not the brown eggs as suggested by Tribune earlier.

Expanding to brown eggs soon

Dr Azeez, however, made clear that GPC’s expansion plans include “brown eggs along with other speciality variant eggs. For now, we only produce white eggs.”