Eggs are one of the most nutritious foods, and a staple ingredient in any healthy diet, as well as being economical; all that has been lacking until now is a food safety guarantee. Any fresh egg may contain salmonella enteritidis bacteria which can cause food poisoning. In recent years, there has been heavy investment in the reduction of infection levels, but fresh eggs have remained a risk.

Salmonella enteritidis is a pathogenic micro-organism (pathogen), transmitted by chickens to eggs. Uncooked or semi-cooked eggs and/or products containing raw eggs (e.g. desserts, mayonnaises, dressings, etc.) can contain pathogens that cause food poisoning. The World Health Organisation (WHO) states that infected eggs make up 40 per cent of all reported food poisoning cases in Europe.

It is mainly toddlers, young children, the elderly, pregnant women and people with a weakened immune system who are sensitive to salmonella infections. Fever, severe stomach cramps and diarrhoea are the most common symptoms of salmonella poisoning.

Cocovite pasteurised eggs minimise risk; they keep your kitchen safe from cross-contamination and enable you to prepare/process eggs in whichever way you want, even raw. If kept refrigerated and processed before the use-by date, pasteurisation has the advantage that the taste, texture and processing properties of the egg are almost completely unaffected.