Effect of Chlorine Dioxide Gas Application to Egg Surface: Microbial Reduction Effect, Quality of Eggs, and Hatchability.

Controlling of microorganisms in the industrial process is important for production and distribution of hatching and table eggs. In the previous study, we reported that chlorine dioxide (ClO₂) gas of a proper concentration and humidity can significantly reduce the load of Salmonella spp. on eggshells. In this study, we compared microbial reduction efficacy on egg's surface using hatching eggs and table eggs, internal quality of table eggs, and hatchability after both the conventional method (washing and UV expose, fumigation with formalin) and ClO₂ gas disinfection. Application of 40 ppm ClO₂ gas to the table and hatching eggs, respectively, reduced the aerobic plate count (APC) with no statistical difference compared with the conventional methods. Additionally, we didn't observed that any significant difference in albumin height, Haugh unit (HU), and yolk color, this result confirms that 40 ppm ClO₂ had no effect on the internal quality of the table eggs, when comparing with the UV treatment method. The hatchability of hatching eggs was not statistical different between formaldehyde fumigation and 80 ppm ClO₂ gas treatment, though the value was decreased at high concentration of 160 ppm ClO₂ gas. From these results, we recommend that ClO₂ gas can be used as a safe disinfectant to effectively control egg surface microorganisms without affecting egg quality.