COA pushes full washing and grading of eggs, opposed by industry and academia: What do the US, Japan and EU do?

General News Jan 1, 1970By Emily Carter 0 views

Recently, Lin Tsung-hsien, chairman of the Council of Agriculture (COA), mentioned while taking questions from lawmakers that the proportion of washed and graded eggs across Taiwan had already reached 75 percent, and that in order to manage things at the source and reduce the spread of pathogens, washing and grading of eggs would be fully implemented by the end of this year. However, regarding the pledge made by Lin Tsung-hsien, several scholars have pointed out that Taiwan has not established a complete system and is not suited to forcefully push washing and grading, while the industry also believes the timetable is too rushed, that washing and grading machines are unaffordable, and that washing and grading facilities are not widespread; in practice, it simply cannot be complied with.

COA chairman Lin Tsung-hsien recently stressed that about 50 percent of the poultry egg industry across Taiwan uses washing and grading, and that with the COA's efforts this had already reached 75 percent, with the remaining quarter to be tackled in poultry egg producing areas such as Pingtung, Yunlin and Changhua. However, hampered by the fact that some poultry farms currently have problems with their hardware and equipment, the COA will provide guidance as soon as possible, and it is expected that efforts will be made this year to fully promote washing and grading of poultry eggs, "to finish the last mile well."

Industry: COA's push for full washing and grading is too rushed this year and the system cannot keep up

But can this last mile really be completed by the end of this year? Wang Chien-pei, secretary-general of the Chicken Raising Association, stressed that the government is calling for full washing and grading, but the entire industry chain has no complete plan, including whether consumers have demand for it; washing and grading reduces the storage time of egg products, so can distributors cooperate? Not to mention that the proportion of washing and grading facilities is low, and one washing and grading machine costs as much as over a million, so if there are not enough washing and grading facilities, how are farmers supposed to wash and grade?

photo credit: aotaro (HMM) Planet Eggs via photopin (license)

**What do the United States, Japan and the European Union do?**

However, what different plans have Japan and the United States, which also lean toward full washing and grading of eggs, made in policy implementation? Su Ho-ping, a retired professor from National Taiwan University's Department of Animal Science and Technology who specializes in egg processing, said that the United States requires producers with 3,000 or more laying hens to wash and grade their own egg products, that washed and graded eggs are required to be waxed to replace the eggshell protective membrane lost through washing, and that egg products must be kept refrigerated after washing.

Japan, by contrast, directly regulates operators through the Act on Japanese Agricultural Standards (Japanese Agricultural Standards, JAS), and all eggs placed on the market must undergo full washing and grading. At present, more than 90 percent of eggs in Japan are washed and graded eggs.

Unlike Japan and the United States, the European Union does not encourage washing and grading. The secretary-general of the Taiwan Agricultural Standards Association said in an earlier interview that the transport and storage of washed and graded eggs must be kept below 7 degrees C to be relatively safe, and that even refrigerated storage is not recommended for more than two weeks. If the transport process is mainly at room temperature, the hotter environment is less appropriate.

In the European Union, regulations require operators to be equipped with a complete egg collection system, but processing must also be handled by certified packing centers. The specific process is that after laying hens produce eggs, the eggs automatically slide onto a conveyor belt and are transported all the way to the egg grading and packing warehouse, where they are then manually selected. The eggshells must be complete and unbroken, and adhering manure must be removed, without washing off the natural membrane on the eggshell. The key point is to isolate sources of contamination.

**COA: Taking land category change and other procedures into account, the timetable for fully promoting washed and graded eggs will be extended to two years**

In response to the scholars' suggestions, Wang Chung-shu, deputy director of the COA's Department of Animal Industry, responded that it will still move toward the goal of fully promoting washed and graded eggs. At the current stage, about 50 percent of eggs are washed and graded, and guidance will continue to be provided for the other 50 percent.

Under the existing policy, large washing and grading facilities have already been planned in Pingtung and Changhua, where the laying hen industry is concentrated. By then, Changhua, which accounts for 40 percent of the overall industry, will have a washing and grading facility capable of washing and grading about one million eggs a day, and the Pingtung washing and grading facility established through the expansion of the Taiwan Provincial Egg Cooperative will also be able to achieve the same goal in the future. As for other small and medium-sized washing and grading facilities, the COA will also provide guidance for their establishment one after another, but this part is stuck on land category changes and factory construction issues, and the overall completion of the structure will still take two years.

Wang Chung-shu also pointed out that there are currently several ways to carry out washing and grading. In addition to handing eggs over to the large washing and grading facilities mentioned above, farmers with the relevant equipment can also wash and grade themselves, or otherwise send them to "regional small and medium-sized washing and grading facilities" to handle it.

In this regard, Wang explained that in Changhua and Pingtung, small operators are already doing washing and grading, and together they can complete the washing and grading of 500,000 eggs a day. In the future, the COA will strengthen the establishment of this type of washing and grading facility so that farmers' production areas can all be covered by washing and grading facilities. Wang Chung-shu also added that other major companies such as Charoen Pokphand and DaChan also have the willingness to do it. By then, once large, medium and small washing and grading facilities have all been established, progress can be made toward full washing and grading.

Regarding scholars' doubts that Taiwan does not have a good cold chain system to handle back-end transport, Wang Chung-shu said that currently not all washed and graded eggs across Taiwan use cold chain transport either, but if egg products are fully washed and graded in the future, whether a cold chain policy should be introduced at the same time will take Taiwan's own conditions into consideration and then be discussed with the Ministry of Health and Welfare. As for whether the legal regulations on single-use packaging materials in the Animal Transmission Regulations should be amended or abolished after full washing and grading, the COA will also conduct consultations, and there is currently no specific answer.

**How should eggs be washed and graded? FDA: There is a "Guideline for the Washing and Grading of Fresh Shell Eggs" for farmers' reference**

As for how eggs should be washed, Taiwan has in fact already set out a preliminary set of standards. Chiang Chien-chi, a section chief in the Food Division of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), said that the agency has drafted a "Guideline for the Washing and Grading of Fresh Shell Eggs" for egg farmers' reference. In order to reduce the impact of Salmonella, raw eggs must first meet acceptance standards, including that the surface should have no foreign matter, stains or spots, and that the eggshell and air cell must be intact. Eggs that are cracked, soft-shelled, or contaminated with manure should be removed and destroyed.

The washing part is divided into three steps: spraying with water, brushing and rinsing. The water used should meet drinking water quality standards, and the water temperature should be 5-10 degrees C higher than the temperature of the egg products and not exceed 50 degrees C, in order to prevent detergent or microorganisms from penetrating through the pores of the eggshell during cleaning and indirectly contaminating the egg products. As for detergents, sodium hypochlorite at 200 ppm or below or quaternary ammonium compounds with an effective concentration of active quaternary ammonium compounds at 200 ppm or below may be used. Detergent must not be added to the rinse water, and overall running water or continuous spray washing should be used to avoid soaking the egg products in the washing tank.

As for storage and transport, the guideline states that washed and graded eggs kept at room temperature should be maintained below 25 degrees C, while refrigerated ones should be below 7 degrees C and above the freezing point, and the same applies to the temperature at the point of sale. However, this guideline is not mandatory, and the FDA also stressed that it will be announced again after revision in the future.

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COA pushes full washing and grading of eggs, opposed by industry and academia: What do the US, Japan and EU do?

Industry: COA's push for full washing and grading is too rushed this year and the system cannot keep up

What do the United States, Japan and the European Union do?

COA: Taking land category change and other procedures into account, the timetable for fully promoting washed and graded eggs will be extended to two years

How should eggs be washed and graded? FDA: There is a "Guideline for the Washing and Grading of Fresh Shell Eggs" for farmers' reference

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