Elimination of Salmonella cross-contamination on eggs using antimicrobial coating

Gastro-intestinal infections caused by Salmonella strains, together with Campylobacter, are among the most common food-borne diseases in Italy (EFSA journal 2016). Therefore, it is important to avoid the spreading of bacterial colonization on different type of foods. A common vector of Salmonella are eggs, which can be contaminated by the laying hen (vertical or horizontal infection) or by contact with contaminated eggs of food (cross-contamination). At the moment, the Italian prevention practices to control Salmonella spreading are bacterial controls on laying hens and their environment and eggs brushing before packaging. Other countries allow eggs washing, but this process decreases the shelf-life of the product. This study investigates the efficiency of an antimicrobial coating to avoid Salmonella cross-contamination on eggs. Coating the eggs with a pectin-alginate polymer drastically improves their food safety and reduces the recovery of Salmonella colonies from the egg surface. Therefore, the occurrence of cross-contamination would be highly reduced as well. The positive effect of the coating itself showed to be highly effective even without the addition of antibacterial agents such as LAE. This active packaging could guarantee higher safety for eggs and opens the possibility to test this procedure on other food matrices common carriers of potentially pathogenic bacteria.