Methods of pasteurization enabling the total inactivation of viral and bacterial contamination of in-shell chicken eggs

Abstract

There is a process which can pasteurize in-shell chicken eggs to inactivate pathogens when present which includes all strains of salmonella and all strains of viruses that historically have been known to exist within chicken eggs and currently are known to be evolving into new and separate strains which may cause large quantities of human illnesses unless countermeasures are developed and employed. One such countermeasure is provided through pasteurization of the subject in-shell eggs through pasteurization involving concurrently a secured environment together with a protocol which enables total inactivation of the targeted pathogens whether bacterial or viral without risk of recontamination.

Claims

1. A method of pasteurizing in-shell chicken eggs, wherein the chicken eggs comprise at least an eggshell with pores and internal contents within the eggshell, consisting of at least an outer albumen, an inner albumen, a vitelline membrane, and a yolk, and wherein said method achieves inactivation of targeted pathogens that is total, said method comprising the steps of: (1) placing the in-shell eggs into customized flats; (2) exposing the in-shell eggs to a first fluid comprising liquid water combined with a food-grade bactericide or gaseous air combined with a food-grade bactericide, wherein: the food-grade bactericide functions between temperatures of 120 F. and 150 F.; the first fluid is heated to a pasteurization temperature of between 128 F. and 138.5 F.; a design of the customized flats allows for at least 95% exposure of the eggshells to the pasteurization temperature of the first fluid; and the first fluid flows from a first line; (3) exposing the in-shell eggs to ultraviolet light; (4) maintaining the exposure of the in-shell eggs to the first fluid until at least the internal contents of the in-shell eggs reach equilibrium with the pasteurization temperature; (5) maintaining the exposure of the in-shell eggs to the first fluid until a 1.0 to 1.75 log reduction of pathogens present in and on the in-shell eggs is achieved; (6) discontinuing exposure of the in-shell eggs to the first fluid; (7) exposing the in-shell eggs to a second fluid that flows from a second line, wherein the second fluid has a temperature of less than 128 F.; (8) maintaining the exposure of the in-shell eggs to the second fluid until the outer albumen of the in-shell eggs achieves a temperature of less than 128 F.; (9) maintaining the exposure of the in-shell eggs to the second fluid until the inner albumen of the in-shell eggs achieves a temperature of between 128 F. and 129 F.; (10) discontinuing the exposure of the in-shell eggs to the second fluid; (11) repeating said steps (2) through (10) until at least a 10.0 log level inactivation of viruses and 12 log inactivation of salmonella bacteria is achieved; (12) allowing the in-shell eggs to cool and internally contract; (13) applying to the in-shell eggs a food-grade bactericide, wherein the food-grade bactericide enters the eggshell through exposed pores of the eggshell and spreads through the internal contents of the in-shell eggs, and wherein the food-grade bactericide has a shelf life duration sufficient for the food grade bactericide to remain effective while the food grade bactericide enters the exposed pores and spreads through the internal contents; (14) applying to the in-shell eggs one of a food-grade wax and a food-grade plastic sealant; and (15) storing the in-shell eggs in a corn-based bio-plastic carton after performing said step (14).

2. The method as claimed in claim 1, further comprising the step between said steps (1) and (2) of placing the customized flats in a pasteurization medium, wherein the pasteurization medium is a secured and controlled housing that prevents recontamination of the in-shell eggs and external contamination during said steps of said method through the following further steps: filtering the first and second fluids; recirculating the filtered first and second fluids; and sanitizing pasteurization medium air within the pasteurization medium.

3. The method as claimed in claim 2, further comprising the steps of monitoring, recording, and signaling as to deviations in an environment within the pasteurized medium.

4. The method as claimed in claim 1, further comprising the step before said step (2) of positioning nozzles that emit the first and second fluids from the first and second lines to ensure maximum exposure of the in-shell eggs to the first and second fluids.

5. A method of pasteurizing in-shell chicken eggs, wherein the chicken eggs comprise at least an eggshell with pores and internal contents within the eggshell, comprising at least an outer albumen, an inner albumen, a vitelline membrane, and a yolk, said method comprising the steps of: (1) identifying a log level required to inactivate a targeted pathogen; placing the in-shell eggs in a pasteurization medium, wherein the pasteurization medium is an isolated, secured, and controlled housing that prevents recontamination of the in-shell eggs and external contamination; (2) exposing the in-shell eggs to a first fluid comprising one of liquid water combined with a food-grade bactericide or gaseous air combined with a food-grade bactericide, wherein the first fluid is at a pasteurization temperature of between 128 F. and 138.5 F.; (3) maintaining the exposure of the in-shell eggs to the first fluid until the internal contents of the in-shell eggs reach equilibrium with the pasteurization temperature; (4) discontinuing exposure of the in-shell eggs to the first fluid; (5) exposing the in-shell eggs to a second fluid, wherein the second fluid has a temperature of less than 128 F.; (6) maintaining the exposure of the in-shell eggs to the second fluid until the outer albumen of the in-shell eggs achieves a temperature of less than 128 F. and the inner albumen achieves a temperature of no less than 128 F., wherein the pasteurization medium prevents recontamination of the in-shell eggs and external contamination during said steps of said method through the following further steps: sanitizing the first and second fluids; recirculating the sanitized first and second fluids; and sanitizing pasteurization medium air within the pasteurization medium; (7) discontinuing the exposure of the in-shell eggs to the second fluid; (8) repeating said steps (2) through (7) until the log level required to inactivate the targeted pathogen is achieved; (9) allowing the in-shell eggs to cool and internally contract; (10) applying to the in-shell eggs an undiluted food-grade bactericide, wherein the food-grade bactericide enters the eggshell through pores of the eggshell and is drawn inward through the internal contents of the in-shell eggs, and wherein the food-grade bactericide has a shelf life duration sufficient for the food grade bactericide to remain effective while the food grade bactericide enters the exposed pores and spreads through the internal contents; and (11) applying to the in-shell eggs one of a food-grade wax or a food-grade plastic sealant.

6. The method as claimed in claim 5, wherein the log level required to inactivate a targeted pathogen is at least a 10 log level inactivation of viruses and 12 log inactivation of salmonella bacteria.

7. The method as claimed in claim 5, wherein the pasteurization temperature is between 132 F. and 133 F.

8. The method as claimed in claim 5, further comprising the step of exposing the in-shell eggs to water treated with a food-grade bactericide that is at a temperature that is at least 123 F. and less than 128 F., wherein said step of exposing the in-shell eggs to water treated with a food-grade bactericide that is at a temperature that is at least 123 F. and less than 128 F. is performed after said step (1) of identifying a log level and before said step (2) of exposing the in-shell eggs to a first fluid at a pasteurization temperature of between 128 F. and 138.5 F.

9. The method as claimed in claim 5, further comprising the step between said steps (1) and said step of placing the in-shell eggs in the pasteurization medium of exposing the in-shell eggs to water treated with a food-grade bactericide that is at a temperature that is at least 123 F. and less than 128 F.

10. The method as claimed in claim 5, further comprising the step before said step (2) of determining an amount of time to perform said step (2) and pasteurization temperature based on considerations comprising at least one of: a size of the in-shell eggs as determined by weight; water content of the in-shell eggs; altitude at which said method is being conducted; lapses in time between a date of the lay of the in-shell eggs and a date of said method being conducted; and a diet of a chicken that laid the in-shell eggs.

11. The method as claimed in claim 5, wherein the food-grade bactericide functions between temperatures of 120 F. and 150 F.

12. The method as claimed in claim 11, wherein the food-grade bactericide is one of a group consisting of chlorine, ozone, hydrogen peroxide, and quaternary ammonium.

13. The method as claimed in claim 5, wherein said step (11) is achieved by one of a group consisting of spraying the in-shell eggs with the food-grade wax or food-grade plastic sealant; bathing the in-shell eggs in the food-grade wax or food-grade plastic sealant; and rolling the in-shell eggs in or with the food-grade wax or food-grade plastic sealant.

14. A method of pasteurizing in-shell chicken eggs, wherein the chicken eggs comprise at least an eggshell with pores and internal contents within the eggshell, comprising at least an outer albumen, an inner albumen, a vitelline membrane, and a yolk, said method comprising the steps of: (1) identifying a log level required to inactivate a targeted pathogen; (2) exposing the in-shell eggs to a first fluid comprising one of liquid water combined with a food-grade bactericide or gaseous air combined with a food-grade bactericide, wherein the first fluid is at a pasteurization temperature of between 128 F. and 138.5 F.; (3) maintaining the exposure of the in-shell eggs to the first fluid until the internal contents of the in-shell eggs reach equilibrium with the pasteurization temperature; (4) discontinuing exposure of the in-shell eggs to the first fluid; (5) exposing the in-shell eggs to a second fluid, wherein the second fluid has a temperature of less than 128 F.; (6) maintaining the exposure of the in-shell eggs to the second fluid until the outer albumen of the in-shell eggs achieves a temperature of less than 128 F. and the inner albumen achieves a temperature of no less than 128 F.; (7) discontinuing the exposure of the in-shell eggs to the second fluid; (8) repeating said steps (2) through (7) until the log level required to inactivate the targeted pathogen is achieved, wherein each of said step (8) of repeating said steps (2) through (7) increases a log level pathogen reduction by between 1.0 and 1.75 logs and the log level required to inactivate the targeted pathogen is attained through an accumulation of the log level pathogen reductions of each of said step (8); (9) allowing the in-shell eggs to cool and internally contract; (10) applying to the in-shell eggs an undiluted food-grade bactericide, wherein the food-grade bactericide enters the eggshell through pores of the eggshell and is drawn inward through the internal contents of the in-shell eggs, and wherein the food-grade bactericide has a shelf life duration sufficient for the food grade bactericide to remain effective while the food grade bactericide enters the exposed pores and spreads through the internal contents; and (11) applying to the in-shell eggs one of a food-grade wax or a food-grade plastic sealant.

15. The method as claimed in claim 14, wherein the log level required to inactivate a targeted pathogen is at least a 10 log level inactivation of viruses and 12 log inactivation of salmonella bacteria.

16. The method as claimed in claim 14, further comprising the step between said steps (1) and (2) of placing the in-shell eggs in a pasteurization medium, wherein the pasteurization medium is an isolated, secured, and controlled housing that prevents recontamination of the in-shell eggs and external contamination during said steps of said method through the following further steps: sanitizing the first and second fluids; recirculating the sanitized first and second fluids; and sanitizing pasteurization medium air within the pasteurization medium.

17. The method as claimed in claim 14, wherein the pasteurization temperature is between 132 F. and 133 F.

18. The method as claimed in claim 14, further comprising the step of exposing the in-shell eggs to water treated with a food-grade bactericide that is at a temperature that is at least 123 F. and less than 128 F., wherein said step of exposing the in-shell eggs to water treated with a food-grade bactericide that is at a temperature that is at least 123 F. and less than 128 F. is performed after said step (1) of identifying a log level and before said step (2) of exposing the in-shell eggs to a first fluid at a pasteurization temperature of between 128 F. and 138.5 F.

19. The method as claimed in claim 16, further comprising the step between said steps (1) and said step of placing the in-shell eggs in the pasteurization medium of exposing the in-shell eggs to water treated with a food-grade bactericide that is at a temperature that is at least 123 F. and less than 128 F.

20. The method as claimed in claim 14, further comprising the step before said step (2) of determining an amount of time to perform said step (2) and pasteurization temperature based on considerations comprising at least one of: a size of the in-shell eggs as determined by weight; water content of the in-shell eggs; altitude at which said method is being conducted; lapses in time between a date of the lay of the in-shell eggs and a date of said method being conducted; and a diet of a chicken that laid the in-shell eggs.

21. The method as claimed in claim 14, wherein the food-grade bactericide functions between temperatures of 120 F. and 150 F.

22. The method as claimed in claim 21, wherein the food-grade bactericide is one of a group consisting of chlorine, ozone, hydrogen peroxide, and quaternary ammonium.

23. The method as claimed in claim 14, wherein said step (11) is achieved by one of a group consisting of spraying the in-shell eggs with the food-grade wax or food-grade plastic sealant; bathing the in-shell eggs in the food-grade wax or food-grade plastic sealant; and rolling the in-shell eggs in or with the food-grade wax or food-grade plastic sealant.

24. The method as claimed in claim 5, wherein the first fluid comprises liquid water and the second fluid comprises gaseous air.

25. The method as claimed in claim 5, wherein the first fluid comprises gaseous air and the second fluid comprises liquid water.

26. The method as claimed in claim 5, wherein the first fluid and the second fluid comprise gaseous air.

27. The method as claimed in claim 5, wherein the first fluid and the second fluid comprise liquid water.

28. The method as claimed in claim 14, wherein the first fluid comprises liquid water and the second fluid comprises gaseous air.

29. The method as claimed in claim 14, wherein the first fluid comprises gaseous air and the second fluid comprises liquid water.

30. The method as claimed in claim 14, wherein the first fluid and the second fluid comprise gaseous air.

31. The method as claimed in claim 14, wherein the first fluid and the second fluid comprise liquid water.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) The FIGURE depicts a typical section of flats containing chicken eggs prepared for pasteurization which in practice will be multiplied in quantity to accommodate production suitable to the location of the pasteurization processing facility.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

(2) As has been discussed and noted above, there are several different elements contained within the invention. Each element is important unto itself. However, when employed together their combined contents create for the first time the ability to provide a total food safety benefit for the chicken egg consuming public through two new primary achievements. The first new primary achievement is a method that enables the total inactivation of salmonella, as well as viruses, which in the case of viruses potentially pose a still greater threat to public health from chicken eggs than does salmonella when chicken eggs are consumed less than hard-cooked. As noted above, the total inactivation of targeted pathogens occurs under the new art contained herein through programmed interruptions of heat and its denial, which also is referred to as being cyclical in its nature. That described protocol enables for the first time the ability to inactivate all bacterial or viral contaminants contained within or upon in-shell chicken eggs.

(3) The second new primary area of inventiveness is referenced as being the pasteurization medium. The pasteurization medium is peculiar to the new art claimed herein. The new medium enables total inactivation of salmonella as well as viruses to be performed within the medium, whose self-sufficient features provide for a fully secured environment, which includes perpetual cleansing of the chicken eggs during pasteurization. Under prior art no such secured medium existed. As a result of the absence of a secured environment in the prior art, significant airborne recontamination resulted from the difficulties of controlling the purity of the air within the environment within which pasteurization was performed, as well as the contaminated environment into which the subject eggs flowed post pasteurization. Such allowed for subsequent airborne impurities giving cause to inordinate levels of recontamination. The achievement of providing security from recontamination is the result of the mentioned unique medium containing its own internal purification system, which avoids any risk of targeted pathogens surviving the protocol employed. That mentioned internal purification system includes the perpetual use of any one of the US-FDA Food Use approved bactericides, which include but is not limited to chlorine, ozone, hydrogen peroxide and quaternary ammonium. Notably, chlorine will become inactivated when exposed to temperatures customarily employed for in-shell chicken egg pasteurization. At point of exit, the eggs exposed post pasteurization performed under the referenced art within the medium described, not only are pasteurized to a level of inactivation which is total, as applied to the two primary risk areas consisting of bacterial contamination and viral contamination, but also the subject eggs are protected from recontamination by a protective sealant being provided to the eggshells prior to the subject eggs exiting from the sanitized environment provided by the pasteurization medium. Notably, once the subject eggs are conveyed into the secured environment of the pasteurization medium, the protocol for pasteurization, together with the control of the impurity of the environment are sealed and the protocol employed for pasteurization of the subject eggs is both preprogrammed, as is the maintenance of the purity of the environment within the medium. Upon substantial completion of the pasteurization protocol employed, and while the subject eggs are ambiently cooling and still contracting internally, the egg shells are provided with the selected and approved food-grade antibacterial agent without dilution, to further ensure total inactivation of the targeted pathogens has occurred. Post application of the mentioned agent, and prior to exit from the medium after the completion of pasteurization, together with the subject eggs having received a protected sealant, is the security of the environment relaxed to provide for the exit of the pasteurized eggs containing their protective sealant, which except for occasional unavoidable damage to a given egg, will provide the public with a pathogen free egg suitable for consumption by the general public without restriction.

(4) As has been discussed and noted above under the Summary of the Invention the new influenza threat spanning the globe has a viral base source which generally is identified as Avian Influenza that is commonly referred to as the bird flu. In the pasteurization processes described and claimed in the above-noted patent ingredients pasteurization is carried out in optional forms by way of intermittent applications of heat as contained within purified water through application of a spray or a mist as one option. A second option employing the same secured environment of the medium employing a similar protocol as that of the described water is employed by the substitution of the water in all of its forms with purified air. Each of the two preferred applications i.e., water and air as described, are preferred over the selection of a water bath for reasons more fully discussed under the prior section entitled Summary of the Invention. Under the protocol employed within the new art, whether purified water or purified air is employed, the selection is similarly programmed to fluctuate in its temperature, enabling the subject eggs being pasteurized to be protected from heat damage, which if not protected, would give cause for the subject eggs to loose their raw characteristics. The new art as is more completely described herein above by reference is included within this section. More particularly, reference is made to the portion of the new art which both protects the subject eggs from risks of heat damage, while at the same time and for the first time enables the inactivation of targeted pathogens, which include all strains of salmonella and all strains of viruses as found or may come to be found within chicken eggs. These described features of the current invention are most important. To achieve the inactivation results of the targeted pathogens referenced, the protocol employed includes the optional uses of treated water or treated air applied to the chicken eggshells employing different temperatures for different durations on a preprogrammed basis, selected to accommodate the specific pasteurization needs to satisfy the inactivation of the pathogens targeted within the variables contained within the subject eggs, and their specific needs, as applied to the total inactivation of pathogens potentially present through the benefits of pasteurization, achieving the level of total inactivation of the targeted pathogen, according to standards set and confirmed by science. To accomplish such, the choices of the fluid employed, whether purified water or purified air at controlled and preprogrammed temperatures for preprogrammed durations, as further tailored to accommodate the specific features of the subject chicken eggs, are the primary considerations for the selections for either heat transfer or chilling transfer to occur. The selection of treated water or the selection of treated air as the transfer vehicle for either heat or induced chilling within the self-sufficient and secured environment of the pasteurization medium is aided and reinforced in either case by added ingredients described previously herein above. That section includes options for sanitization provided through appropriate adaptations of alternate sources available which both are identified and demonstrated through the potential use of steam as a feature of water, microwaves as an option, ultraviolet or its counterparts as a constant within the medium added to the protocol employed as either a substitute for or a supplement to treated and both heated and chilled water or treated and both heated and chilled air utilized for the intermittent transfer of heat and its intermittent denial together with the intermittent application of induced chilling and its intermittent denial to the subject eggs under a programmed protocol attending to the specific characteristics of the subject chicken eggs.

(5) The new and significantly important inventiveness described and claimed herein concerning pasteurization of in-shell chicken eggs also provides for a new and unique total inactivation of pathogens present which enables the conversion of the subject pasteurized in-shell eggs into liquid egg products, which currently give cause to significant health risks to the consuming public resulting from inadequate pasteurization. The inadequate pasteurization as applied to salmonella inactivation results from the current protocols employed for pasteurization of liquid egg products, as well as the levels of salmonella counts known to be present within chicken eggs being converted into pasteurized liquid egg products, employ a 5-log level of inactivation of salmonella although by regulation counts requiring up to a 10-log level of inactivation are needed. That protocol allows for the level of pasteurization used for chicken eggs being converted into liquid egg product to be well below the needs required to inactivate highly salmonella contaminated chicken eggs. That existing and significant problem is compounded by the now new and potential presence of viruses, which require still greater levels of inactivation than do salmonella strains. Whether from contaminated in-shell chicken eggs or from co-mingled and inadequately pasteurized liquid egg products, the present public health risks as carried by contaminated chicken eggs now can be eliminated through the employment of the protocol described for improved and total inactivation of pathogens contained within chicken eggs through the results of pasteurization, which now provides for inactivation that is total which includes both salmonella bacteria as well as viral strains evolving, which prior art as practiced failed to address.

(6) Separately but of distinct importance the new art through all of its elements enables not only the inactivation of pathogens already as found within chicken eggs, which include bacterial strains and viral strains, but also those which may come to be found within derivative strains that evidence confirms likely are to occur. Those new strains may include the need for greater protection from pathogens more resistant to heat. Under prior art protocols employed for pasteurization, inactivation of pathogens possessing newfound resistance to heat is unavailable. Their inactivation now can be satisfied through the new art being discussed, which provides for the achievement of still higher levels of inactivation, as enabled by the art contained within the new pasteurization protocol employed that has been more fully discussed hereinbefore. Under the new protocol enabling the total inactivation of viral strains, the level of heat application to achieve said inactivation of the viruses exceeds the heat application required to inactivate all strains of salmonella bacteria as may be found within chicken eggs. The new art herein presented inactivates all salmonella strains as may be found within chicken eggs stemming from sources originating from external contamination, as well as those originating from within the chicken and its ovaries. The new discoveries discussed as found within the new art as described hereinabove not only inactivates viruses as now increasingly may be found within or upon chicken eggs but also inactivates all salmonella strains which too may be commonly found within or upon chicken eggs. However, it now has been learned from new teachings that an increase in heat tolerance is occurring within the various strains of both salmonella and viruses as found or may come to be found within chicken eggs. Those evolutionary changes give cause for needs to provide levels of pasteurization containing the ability to inactivate pathogens that have acquired heat resistance resulting from their evolution to protect themselves, which now require pasteurization levels that are materially higher than a 5-log level of inactivation as measured by Salmonella enteriditis (Se) and as approved to be safe by Government agencies. The constant evolution of pathogens gives cause for pasteurization levels employed to contain adequate flexibility, which enables pasteurization technology to provide total inactivation in order to keep pace with the on-going increase in heat resistance occurring within the targeted pathogens. Uniquely and importantly the new art described hereinbefore accommodates the previously mentioned needs to satisfy the inactivation of pathogens which have growing levels of contamination caused by the mentioned evolution of pathogens through use of the unique features contained within the new art described enabling the achievement of log levels required for total inactivation through the use of the cyclical application of heat and its denial which enables the achievement of the targeted log without deterioration of the raw characteristics of the subject eggs.

(7) For further clarity, in practice the new inventiveness through its protocol provides for a level of viral destruction or inactivation of 10-logs or greater as may be needed to accommodate the inactivation of viral strains which require additional log reduction over that of the most prominent and heat-resilient bacterial strains currently causing contamination of chicken eggs. Although Se is not the most heat-resilient strain of salmonella commonly found within chicken eggs, it is used by Government agencies as the baseline for measuring salmonella inactivation as measured in logs. The USDA Research Laboratory has reported that an inactivation ratio between the H5N1 virus and Se as measured in logs applicable to Se equates to 5.0- to 7.0-logs of the bacteria (Se) to 5.0-logs of the virus. Therefore, concurrent to achieving a 10-log destruction of the more heat-resistant strains of viruses as now is enabled and not exclusively found within the H5N1 strain when compared to the lesser heat-resistant strains of salmonella bacteria, the new inventiveness inactivates all salmonella contamination commonly found within chicken eggs including the more heat-resistant strains of salmonella, which as just two examples are found in S. Senftemberg 775W and S. Heidelberg, for reason that science confirms that the viral contaminants require greater levels of heat exposure for their inactivation than do all other strains of salmonella as commonly found within chicken eggs as is known to those within the scientific community who have both reported upon the subject area and are credentialed within the subject field. Experts at the USDA Research Laboratory have reconfirmed that the inactivation differential between viral inactivation and bacterial inactivation as found within strains that may become peculiar to chicken eggs require Se inactivation to be up to 2-log levels greater than the virus log level targeted in order to inactivate the viral contaminant. Example: A 12-log inactivation of the Se bacteria more or less may equate to a 10-log level of inactivation of the H5N1 virus. Although research reports are on-going regarding still newer virus strains becoming the source or a participant source of a forecasted pandemic stemming from avian causes, an antibody does not exist in final form for reasons that a current antibody as of May 2014 still was being tested and also reportedly the H5N1 virus was continuing to evolve as confirmed by various international sources including the World Health Organization (WHO). Notably, the scientific community through its writings confirms that it is a near certainty that more heat-resilient strains of either of the mentioned contaminants or their derivatives will continue to evolve and give cause to increased threats to public health within the forecastable near term. The continued evolution of viruses which includes their gain in resistance to sources of inactivation confirms the need for science to be ahead of the pathogens in their inactivation which is made available by the new art described herein.

(8) Notably, the new art employs pasteurization and not sterilization. In pertinent part, pasteurization preserves nutritional values within the food source targeted, whereas sterilization loses the nutritional values of the food targeted.

(9) In summary, the first of two areas of new and primary inventiveness under the new pasteurization art described herein and claimed as new inventiveness includes the unique ingredients of the protocols employed resulting from new discoveries, which provide the ability to accomplish the inactivation of both viral and bacterial contaminants as enabled through the repeated application of heat and the unique denial of heat intermittently applied to the least dense but most rapid heat transfer element of the various elements contained within chicken eggs, which is found to be characteristic of the outer albumen. That described intermittent application and denial of heat, as controlled and measured by and from the outer albumen, represents the primary control point of the new and unique protocol employed, which enables the achievement of levels of inactivation of targeted pathogens never accomplished previously without loss of the raw characteristics of the chicken eggs. That described new knowledge has led to new discoveries disclosed and claimed herein which now enable the inactivation of both viral and bacterial contaminants as found within chicken eggs or as forecasted to become sources of contamination to chicken eggs through viral mutations of existing strains or from independently evolved new viral strains, which in each instance require materially greater heat exposure to achieve inactivation than does salmonella bacteria in all of its forms as may be found to be associated with chicken eggs.

(10) Notably and materially, the present state of the art cannot deliver inactivation of any targeted virus or new threat from any source currently evolving as studied and reported by the scientific community to a level of log destruction as measured by Se without damaging the raw characteristics of chicken eggs whether in-shell or within liquid product form or whether whole or separated into albumen only or yolk only, while at the same time inactivating the new viral strains or species of contaminants known to exist and known to be continuing to evolve into a public threat caused by a virus which is capable of sickening the public through either human-to-human transfer or through an inordinate quantity of illnesses independently encountered by the egg-consuming public. Of equal notability, the Government itself for reasons which remain unclear, reduced the inactivation level of all strains of salmonella as found within chicken eggs from 10-logs to 5-logs which only compounds the current problem the public is facing for the need for protection from both salmonella and viral sources as found within both liquid egg products and in-shell eggs which Government scientists for decades have confirmed require a 10-log level of inactivation for bacterial strains.

(11) Separately, the details of the new art described herein include the replacement of the prior art risk providing protocol of employing a 5-log level of pasteurization as may be found within a contaminated chicken egg without qualifications provided to the public in advance that the subject eggs frequently may cause illness or even death.

(12) Notably and of primary importance, the new discoveries in material part employ the advantages provided from the significant differences found within both the heat transfer and heat retention of the outer albumen, as compared to each and all of the other elements of the chicken eggs. For clarity of understanding, the outer albumen contains different characteristics and a different density in its composition from those of the inner albumen, vitelline membrane and the yolk. Those differing characteristics most significantly include the lesser density of the outer albumen as compared to the densities contained within the inner albumen and the vitelline membrane as well as the yolk. The differences in the densities of the mentioned substances together with their differing proximities to the heat source, whether those sources are being provided with heat or with an absence of heat or still further have been subjected to induced chilling enable new teachings to occur, when understood and considered together provide for the first primary element of new inventiveness to occur. That new first element is dependant upon the unique use of the composition of the outer albumen in combination with its unique location in relation to the eggshell and proximity to the source of heat or chilling. The outer albumen's composition and location, in combination with its thinnest relative composition provides for the outer albumen to be the key measure of control of heat transfer over all other elements within the subject eggs, as derived from the advantages provided from the outer albumen's higher rates of heat transfer whether from heat gain, heat loss post-heating and induced chilling. That protocol provides for heat damage to the outer albumen to be eliminated, while at the same time the exposures of all other elements of the subject eggs, including their graduated denser compositions as represented by the inner albumen, vitelline membrane and the yolk, benefit from prolonged and interrupted applications of heat, its denial and the inclusion of intermittent induced chilling to achieve the desired higher targeted log reduction selected without loss of the inherent raw characteristics of the subject chicken eggs. The benefits from the discoveries derived from utilizing the different densities of the egg components together with their resulting differing rates of heat transfer enable higher log levels of destruction of targeted pathogens to occur without damage to the raw characteristics of the subject chicken eggs. In the end, this new and particular area of discoveries addressing the differing elements of the eggs and their varying rates of heat absorption and heat discharge are utilized in a unique and positive manner, which enable greater log levels of pathogenic inactivation of targeted pathogens than prior art has achieved without negative impact upon the raw characteristics of the subject chicken eggs. That achievement of inactivation of both viruses and bacteria is enabled through the described new inventiveness, which not only enables new threats from viral contamination to be compromised fully but also concurrently provides for the total inactivation of in-shell chicken eggs contaminated with any and all strains of salmonella as may be found within chicken eggs. On the other hand, the prior art never fully achieved this level through the use of an inactivation level of 5 logs, as applied to Se as was established by the US-FDA and employed for both known to be highly salmonella-contaminated chicken eggs regardless of whether such eggs would be provided to the public as in-shell chicken eggs or as liquid egg product. Certain defenses to the inadequacies described from not only the reliance upon a 5-Se log level of inactivation have been provided through utilizing prompt pasteurization together with prompt chilling. Neither of the mentioned supplemental treatments of promptness of pasteurization or the employment of deep chilling is reliable to provide food safety. In the first instance, the achievement of a deep chilling temperature for eggs stacked in a commercial environment requires several days to achieve. Were the eggs to be contaminated, the level of contamination increases materially while the chilling is being applied. Secondly, recent Government statistics confirm that the level of chilling frequently is inadequate to eliminate the growth of contamination present. Still further, chilling does not inactivate pathogens present. At best, chilling if totally successful, interrupts pathogenic multiplication. Still further, even post chilling interruptions in shipments and their associated chilling from farm to table are more common than uncommon. Such is the result of inadequate chilling to begin with, vehicle breakdown en route, power outages and a host of other natural but frequently occurring events. In support of inadequate chilling on its face posing a risk to public health, reference is made to a report authored by the USDA Office of Inspector General dated 2012, within which it recites the risks of reliance upon chilling to abort multiplication of pathogens contained within chicken eggs that give cause to salmonella contamination at a frequency of 1 egg in 3,600 eggs as containing initial levels of salmonella contamination. The issue was further addressed in a report from a publication entitled NERO Comments, as written by that association's experts within the field. The report covers a multitude of ethical and illegal violations, which remain on-going and includes among other on-going public health risks the practice of repackaging eggs of stale date already containing a combination of Grade B eggs co-mingled with Grade A or AA eggs into cartons containing a new Best By date as now extended for an additional time more or less equating to thirty (30) days. Private calculations indicate that three (3) salmonella cells exposed to reasonable ambient temperatures for a period of thirty (30) days post lay will achieve in excess of 100 million cells of Se. Separately, in order to achieve targeted log reductions and to avoid the risk of off-tastes as carried within a chicken egg that has absorbed either the aroma of manure or fowl air from the environment within which it was laid, additives to liquid egg products frequently are employed. Those additives generally are unnoticed by an uninformed public, which includes risk groups representing 45% of the population i.e. 150.0 million persons as having compromised immune systems. The additives employed in certain selections provide for a modest increase above 5 logs to inactivate salmonella. However, the product remains to be unsafe for consumption once co-mingled with US-FDA-authorized highly salmonella contaminated chicken eggs, which in the end require approximately twice the 5-log level of inactivation of salmonella, as measured by the Se strain to be safe for consumption unless hard cooked.

(13) Importantly, the new art claimed herein initially targets a pasteurization level for chicken eggs as measured in viral logs to be a 10-log level of inactivation of the H5N1 virus as being representative of the pertinent viral group. At the same time, through the intermittent application of heat and its intermittent denial which is unique to and a fundamental part of the new art, the present inventiveness provides protection against coagulation of the outer albumen that otherwise would give cause to the loss of the raw aesthetic and functional characteristics of the subject eggs. Consequentially, were it to occur that a 10-log level of inactivation of viruses as found within chicken eggs is inadequate to inactivate all viruses present, the new art provides for a programmed continuation of the cyclical application of heat and its denial to be extended employing a preferred option of induced chilling. The present inventiveness enables the total inactivation of the targeted pathogens without giving cause to loss of nutritional benefits or functional benefits of the subject chicken eggs as compared to their raw counterparts.

(14) The new chicken egg pasteurization art employs an initial 12-log inactivation of salmonella, which in its end result effectively equates to a 10-log inactivation of viruses. Viruses currently are becoming present in variations that are more deadly to humans and more heat-resistant to pasteurization than all strains of salmonella as found within chicken eggs. Further to the above, under the new art, the inactivation of salmonella no longer is tied to Salmonella enteriditis (Se), which recent science reconfirms is not the most heat-sensitive of salmonella strains common to chicken eggs. However, by custom, Government agencies continue to reference Se as the targeted strain of salmonella, along with identifying the ovary of the chicken as being the primary source of salmonella contamination in the form of the enteriditis strain (Se), which is inactivated through a 5-log pasteurization protocol as claimed by the US-FDA. At the least both the 5-log protocol and the source of contamination as being primarily from the ovaries are suspect. Notably and significantly, the new art claimed herein resolves any risks of misinformation by providing the public with what undeniably is a statistically safe egg.

(15) The materially higher levels for total inactivation of both of the mentioned pathogen groups are enabled by a new and unique pasteurization protocol employed within an equally new and unique purified isolated environment to be found within the medium employed. That protocol contains new and unique features which can be employed to either or both of the mentioned pathogen groups separately or concurrently. The present invention includes the application of heat through a purified water source or optionally a source employing purified air, which in either of the options employs heat applied at a predetermined temperature setting of 132.5 F., for these illustration purposes only. That water temperature will be identified and treated as the preferred pasteurization temperature, which is applied in its preferred form through a spray or a mist or in an equally effective form through use of purified air applied directly to the eggshells of the subject eggs at specific temperatures, at specific intervals and for specific durations. These parameters are determined primarily but not solely by influences caused from the environmental characteristics of the location of the processing facility and the source location of the subject eggs, egg characteristics generally and the individual local characteristics of the subject eggs.

(16) From the information discussed herein above, a new art has been generated which is employed through a new and unique formula adaptable to the described conditions precedent, which through its flexibility accommodates pasteurization exposure times of the subject eggs. By doing so, this invention not only to provides a level of pasteurization, as measured in targeted logs, through adjustments to accommodate particular local characteristics influencing the subject eggs together with providing a level of inactivation of the targeted pathogens intended as adjusted in all applications to accommodate not only the differences contained within chicken eggs as to size and contents but also the quantity of inactivation as required for the total inactivation of each pathogen targeted. Such is accomplished through the controlled employment of heat and the denial of heat applied to the shells of chicken eggs, optionally through the use of a spray or a mist of water which also will contain an approved food-grade antibacterial agent. The application of the water in its mentioned forms to the subject eggshells employs different temperatures for different durations which are derived from formulas that accommodate the quantities of heat required to achieve the targeted inactivation of the targeted pathogens, as measured in applicable logs (logarithms), without consequential damage from heat to any one element of the chicken egg. The art in practice utilizes the application of heat and its denial to be prompt through use of consistent temperatures for specific durations programmed to accommodate the egg characteristics present, the log level targeted for inactivation and the adjustments to accommodate exposures necessitated from differing egg characteristics being subjected to the pasteurization protocol being employed. The programmed protocol is adjusted to reflect not only the targeted log level to be achieved for inactivation of the targeted pathogens but also includes modifications of the time and temperature employed to reflect accommodations to the differing individual egg characteristics. Those mentioned considerations are further adjusted to reflect the inactivation of the targeted pathogens as such applies to the duration of the application of heat and its denial as optionally delivered through a fine spray or a mist of water at predetermined temperatures and for predetermined time intervals, which also can contain a food-grade antibacterial agent as applied to the exposed eggshells. A formula which includes the specific characteristics of each element of the chicken eggs being subjected to pasteurization together with their relative differences in heat sensitivity as compared to the outer albumen, including its rate of heat gain and heat loss in terms of time and temperature of exposure to both heat and induced chilling along with the targeted log reduction of the targeted pathogen all are incorporated into the resulting protocol. The protocol delivers the treated water through an optional use of a spray or mist at predetermined intervals along with predetermined durations of intervals containing preprogrammed temperature changes to accommodate the subject egg characteristics. Interruptions of the alternating applications of sanitized and heated water in the form of a selected spray and employment of induced chilled water containing a sanitizer applied at programmed alternating intervals along with the application of the heated water spray, at the end of the term called for achieves the protection of the outer albumen from heat damage while continuous pasteurization is being performed to each of the other elements contained within the subject chicken eggs. Those elements other than the outer albumen include the inner albumen, the vitelline membrane and the yolk, each of which requires different quantities of heat in terms of exposure times to a selected temperature to achieve pasteurization. Through customized formulas to accommodate the individual characteristics of the subject eggs, the use of a unique feature common to all formulas employed, which includes attention to the protection of the outer albumen from heat damage by interrupting the application of heat intermittently through either induce chilled air or water in applications directly to the eggshells. These features provide for the lowering of the temperature of solely the outer albumen to below 128 F. and remaining there for a specific time, which accommodates both the characteristics of the subject eggs and accommodates the protocol employed, which suspends the chilling of the outer albumen when the inner albumen approaches 128 F., at which time the induced chilling is suspended. This suspension can be achieved through use of a fluid consisting of water or air and heat disbursed through the same sources, which is applied to the outer albumen through the shells of the subject eggs to an extent wherein the targeted pasteurization temperature used herein as 132.5 F. is reached. The described art includes deviations in exposure times in all phases to accommodate the characteristics of the batch of eggs being pasteurized, as well as the needs described to protect the outer albumen from heat damage. These needs dictate the time and temperature of exposure of each element contained within a chicken egg to achieve pasteurization of a targeted pathogen at the targeted total inactivation level without loss of aesthetic or loss of functional characteristics as expected to be present within a raw chicken egg. Notably and of equal effectiveness, it has been learned that the use of purified air can be employed interchangeably with purified water to achieve equivalent results through the application of the purified air to the subject chicken eggshells employing the same shower heads readily modified to accept air in lieu of water in its various forms. Further, approved food-grade agents to purify air being disbursed are readily available to provide the same level of sanitation to the subject eggshells as those employed for the alternative use of water. The option provided through the use of air requires modest adjustments easily formulated to accommodate changes in rates of temperature changes, as influenced by the density differences found within air and the selection of the water selected to be employed. The velocity of the air versus the form of water employed is a contributing factor to the formulation of the protocol to be employed. Since both water and air share in being fluids, their characteristics are easily modified to accommodate the impact of their differences upon the transfer equipment employed to accommodate the disbursement of the heat and chilling in both forms whether air or water. Notably, each of those substances can be made more effective in their rate of heat transfer or in their rate of chilling, which preferably will be induced for improved control and cost efficiencies, as called for and enabled under the new art. When utilized properly a targeted log reduction of a targeted pathogen, whether viral or bacterial, can be performed, which uniquely provides for the total inactivation of the targeted pathogen as may be found within a contaminated chicken egg. Thus, using the elevated heat sensitivity of the outer albumen to reflect the benefits from its unique location, as being next to the heat and chilling sources through its being an abutter to the eggshell, a formula reflecting those unique characteristics modified to accommodate the heat transfer characteristics of the differing densities, as found within each of the other elements contained within a chicken egg, along with their differing locations from the heat or chilling sources, in the end provide for a formula enabling the total achievement of inactivation of the targeted pathogens without consequential damage to the internal contents of the chicken eggs.

(17) As determined through the teachings learned through the experiments employed, the exactness of the targeted logs of pasteurization for the targeted pathogens when achieved for each element of the subject eggs will not contain the same targeted log levels of inactivation, but in each case will meet or exceed that targeted level of pasteurization without damage to the element of the eggs receiving more than the minimal level targeted. As an illustration, the densest composition of the egg is found to be within the yolk. That composition combined with its most remote location requires greater exposure to heat in terms of time and temperature to achieve the same targeted log reduction as does the outer albumen as one example. The formulas employed under the new art are dictated by the rates of heat transfer or heat loss as measured by the outer albumen. Therefore, the rates of heat transfer and heat loss together with the rates of chilling as applied to the outer albumen become the control points of the formula for pasteurization under the new art.

(18) All other elements of the eggs require different levels of exposure as measured in time for the same temperature to produce the same result from pasteurization as measured in logs. The time required for each of the different elements is non-exact, but in each case allows for a tolerance level to be accommodated through the new formula employed, which provides for each element to benefit from the targeted log reduction but also to exceed that targeted reduction to an extent that accommodates the other elements to achieve the same targeted level of inactivation through longer exposure to the heat being applied without delivering damage of consequence to any element requiring extra exposure time. In the end that discovered flexibility from each element, as compared each to the other, enables pasteurization to the targeted log level to occur, but in certain specific cases to exceed the targeted level of inactivation through greater exposure to the heat source in terms of time without causing consequential damage to the more heat-sensitive other elements within the subject egg. In summary, the discovery of how to convert the different tolerances to heat as characteristic of each of the primary elements composing the chicken egg i.e. the outer albumen as thinnest in substance and most rapid in heat gain or loss, the inner albumen which is next most rapid in the same characteristics as found within the outer albumen, the vitelline membrane contains within its compositional characteristics a greater density in its substance than does the outer albumen, which results in greater heat tolerance and slower rates of cooling than do both of the mentioned albumens. The most dense substance, which also is the most remote in its location, is the yolk, which requires greater time for heat gain and heat loss as compared to the discussed other elements within the chicken egg. Thus, the achievement of a targeted log under the new art is available, although that targeted log may result in excesses as measured in logs to certain elements as found within the inner albumen and the outer albumen.

(19) The greater densities of the vitelline membrane and the yolk, allow for the yolk to achieve the targeted inactivation, while at the same time giving cause to both the outer and inner albumens to modestly exceed the targeted logs without damage to the raw characteristics of those specific elements. This ability is made available through the new and unique cyclical application of heat and its denial, which is a key element of the new art described and claimed herein. As separately discussed, the broader fluctuations in temperature provided to the outer albumen enable the concurrent protection of the inner albumen and the vitelline membrane. Such is enabled by the discovery that the heat tolerance of each element, once identified, can be converted into a formula which accommodates all of the differing heat tolerance levels through the application of heat and its denial along with the associated cooling. In the end, this heating and cooling creates a common result of a pasteurization level, as measured in logs, which contains enough tolerance through additional heat and recovery from the lack of heat to provide an end result which succeeds in providing a targeted log reduction of a targeted pathogen. This log reduction allows for complete inactivation without damage to any one element of the subject chicken eggs, as enabled through use of interrupted applications of heat and chilling, whose durations fall within the tolerance levels of the egg composition to accept pasteurization without damage to the raw characteristics of the subject eggs beyond those which noticeably alter either the functional, nutritional or aesthetic characteristics as found within raw in-shell chicken eggs.

(20) As the evolution of both viruses and bacteria continues, the formula contained within the new art notably and pertinently is uniquely adaptable to increase the quantity of inactivation, as measured in logs, needed to accommodate the total inactivation of new and more heat-resistant strains of the targeted pathogens. What has been learned is that the described unique method and success of the inactivation of the mentioned viruses not only requires more heat, which under the described new art is applied intermittently to avoid damage to the raw characteristics of each element of the subject chicken eggs through overexposure, but also requires achievement of a log count specific to inactivation of each targeted virus or an adaptation as made available under the new protocol. Thereby, the method provides for adequate protection against differing strains of viruses through employment of one targeted level of log inactivation capable of inactivating each strain of the collective strains that may exist at a given time. This capability is possible, providing that the fundamental area of new inventiveness employing the application of heat and its denial, as controlled by the tolerance levels to both heat and rate of acceptance and denial by the outer albumen, is not violated through the choices of protocol made available for achievement of new levels of pathogenic inactivation.

(21) For certainty of understanding, the features of the new inventiveness and the new inventiveness' unique capacity to provide public safety through total inactivation of pathogens, as found within chicken eggs, to achieve materially greater levels of inactivation as measured in Se logs represents a notable and important part of the new inventiveness. This achievement is provided by features of flexibility to achieve greater or lesser levels of inactivation of targeted pathogens, accomplished through a unique method of employing the described cyclical application and denial of heat to avoid causing material reduction of the raw characteristics of the subject chicken eggs as governed by the limitations and flexibilities of the outer albumen. The number of cycles to the application of heat and its denial both govern and enable the increase of logs or their decrease, depending upon the targeted level of inactivation pursued for consumer safety. The scientific community confirms that a 10-log inactivation of viruses as found within chicken eggs equates to 12 logs of the Se bacteria more or less.

(22) The model employed under the new art claimed herein represents the collective results from research information which confirms that a change in salmonella bacteria inactivation log requirement from a log requirement of 5 as authorized by the US-FDA under its Rule of 2009 to 12 would inactivate all viral strains which may be present to their needed 10-log level while at the same time would be more than adequate to inactivate more heat-resistant strains of salmonella than that of Se which customarily has been employed by agencies of jurisdiction to be the targeted strain of salmonella as found within chicken eggs as well as other bacterial strains which may be present.

(23) Various agencies have confirmed the need to raise log levels to accommodate the inactivation of more heat-resistant strains of salmonella over that of Se, which have not been recognized or addressed by regulation from the US-FDA. As a result of the new knowledge regarding relative heat resistance, 1 log was added to the equation, as described herein, to accommodate the difference between more heat-resistant strains of salmonella than Se. Independent science recites specific examples of more heat-resistant strains of salmonella as found in S. Senftemberg, S. Heidelberg, S. Typhimurium, S. Newport among others. In the end, an initial 10-log level of inactivation for viruses is carried, which provides for a 12-log inactivation of Se bacteria. The 2-log differential for inactivation of viruses, as compared to salmonella bacteria, stems from and is confirmed by studies performed by the USDA Research Laboratory located in Athens, Ga.

(24) The uniqueness of the new art providing for levels of pasteurization of chicken eggs is demonstrated in the first instance by its ability to eliminate risks of illness from viral and bacterial sources through providing total inactivation of the pathogens mentioned when present, which also preserves what may become a needed food source. In the second instance and as a collateral discovery, the new art achieves levels of pasteurization for in-shell chicken eggs which maintain the raw characteristics of a chicken egg while providing statistically complete consumer safety from viral and bacterial contaminants, as found or may come to be found within in-shell chicken eggs, which never before has been achieved. That new food safety achievement is the result of the total inactivation of all salmonella and viral contaminates which enables their seamless conversion of safe in-shell eggs into equally safe liquid egg product. Notably and importantly, that new discovery ends the need to limit liquid egg pasteurization to log levels measured by salmonella, that are inadequate to provide for the total inactivation of the pathogens present, which rightfully undermines the public confidence in both the agencies of jurisdiction as applied to liquid egg product along with the public confidence in the safety of the product. Once the problem of providing safety to the public through use of safe in-shell chicken eggs has occurred, the public savings through avoidance of illnesses will convert into major reductions in dollar costs, through the illumination of a large quantity of illnesses stemming from chicken egg contamination. As one example, the Government identifies 45% of the population as having high risks of contracting foodborne illnesses. That 45% approximates 150.0 million people. The Government also reports that chicken eggs rank as the single most source of causing foodborne illness. That statistic has been consistently reported for at least two decades and is now compounded by the present and real threats caused by viral contamination. Further to the above, the Government confirms that the average cost per illness to a person of ordinary health sickened by salmonella-contaminated chicken eggs is $20,000. Were each of the 150.0 million people identified as being at high risk of illness to consume a breakfast type dish containing pasteurized liquid egg product processed at the current U.S.-F.D.A. standard for pasteurization of salmonella as measured by Se to a 5-log level of inactivation or even slightly higher i.e. 6- to 7-logs and such eggs were to be consumed at a frequency equating to six (6) one (1-) egg servings, each twelve months such statistically rightfully would provide for a high probability that each of the six (6) occasions could be forecasted to cause illness. The resulting calculation of illness costs to the high risk group segment of the population, as identified from the Government sources recited together with the minimal annual consumption by risk group members mentioned, would produce an avoidable projected public illness cost stemming from only salmonella of $18.0 trillion annually. Such is supported by performing the conversion of chicken eggs into liquid egg product to be made available in its various forms post in-shell egg pasteurization having occurred. Pre-pasteurization of in-shell chicken eggs before conversion into liquid egg product uniquely enables the destruction of the real and present threat of a pandemic caused by virally-contaminated chicken eggs along with the retention of raw characteristics while providing the long-needed statistical inactivation of targeted pathogens that includes all strains of salmonella as found within chicken eggs and of significant importance together with the notable benefits from providing chicken eggs free from viral contamination which now is giving cause to forecasts of threats of major quantities of illnesses resulting from viral contamination-causing illnesses from chicken eggs which materially contribute to the spread and scope of illnesses of being pandemic in its proportion. The mentioned liquid egg product improvements through materially increased levels of pasteurization without dependency upon additives as is the current protocol employed within the liquid egg product industry notably provides for the inactivation of both viral and salmonella strains which otherwise unless successfully inactivated flourish within the subject eggs particularly when co-mingled in their raw state and subsequently processed into various forms of liquid egg products.

(25) The discovery of the differing relationships between the ingredients of the eggs, together with their densities and differing heat transfer rates, form the basis for the first of two primary areas of discoveries as referenced and described hereinabove. In the first instance, those discoveries include one which takes the mentioned differences between the egg ingredients into consideration when the application of heat is performed. That new and unique application sometimes is described herein as being the cyclical application of heat and its denial. That description is intended to apply to the application and denial of heat at programmed intervals, which create a cycle as measured in the elevation in temperature of the subject eggs to the targeted pasteurization temperature, which for these illustrative purposes is identified to be 132.5 F. Once having achieved the pasteurization temperature and equilibrium having been achieved between all elements of the subject eggs, the subject eggs are held there until they achieve slightly more than 1-log of inactivation of the targeted pathogen, before the temperature applied is reduced preferably by the efficiencies provided from induced chilling. The mentioned 1 plus logs is enhanced on average by 20% of one log throughout the process for each time the temperature is raised to the targeted pasteurization temperature and equally for each time the temperature is lowered from the pasteurization temperature to the point of beginning. After the holding time at the targeted pasteurization temperature of 132.5 F., the outer albumen through the mentioned chilling solely is provided with a temperature of below 128 F. The outer albumen is held at a temperature below 128 F. until such time as the inner albumen nears reaching 128 F. When that occurs, the heating cycle of the subject eggs is reinitiated for all elements to return to the targeted pasteurization temperature, which for these purposes is identified to be 132.5 F., at which point a new cycle begins. That cycle is repeated until the targeted log level has been achieved. The described protocol concerning the outer albumen forms the basis of the new art and enables the unique ability for the art to uniquely achieve total inactivation of targeted pathogens whether bacterial or viral without consequential damage to any portion of the subject eggs.

(26) For certainty of clarity and emphasis, once each element described and found within a chicken egg is exposed to heat from either purified water spray or from chilled purified air and equilibrium with the selected targeted temperature for pasteurization is reached between each element, as found within the subject eggs, the pasteurization to achieve a targeted log reduction for each element within the subject chicken eggs commences. For these illustration purposes, the pasteurization temperature employed is 132.5 F. While the egg is reaching its targeted pasteurization temperature, a portion of a 1-log level of inactivation is achieved. Once equilibrium between all elements contained within the subject eggs occurs with the targeted temperature of 132.5 F., the subject eggs reside at that temperature until an additional 1 log more or less is achieved. To avoid overexposure to the heat provided by the mentioned 132.5 F., the subject eggs then are provided with a prompt reduction in either the water or air temperature, employed to an extent which enables the outer albumen temperature to fall below 128 F. and all other elements to remain at 128 F. or above. Such provides for continuing pasteurization of the other elements mentioned, albeit at different rates due to their differing locations as related to the heat source as well as their differing composition in densities, size or weight characteristics, while at the same time the outer albumen is provided protection from overexposure from continuous heat exposure by programmed interruptions to the applications of heat. This protection is enabled by controlling the temperature being applied to all elements of the eggs, which includes induced chilling to accelerate the reduction time taken by the outer albumen to reach the targeted lower temperature below 128 F. Similarly overshooting to achieve the targeted pasteurization temperature more efficiently is a preferred option. Through its more rapid reaction to both heat and chilling, the outer albumen quickly reacts to temperature changes and benefits from avoiding coagulation through the protection provided by rapid temperature changes, which for these purposes would be from 132.5 F. to one which contains a temperature below 128 F. While the outer albumen finds protection in the described lower temperature range, all other elements of the chicken eggs continue to be exposed to 128 F. or higher, as enabled by their lesser vulnerability to heat giving cause to loss of raw characteristics. That continuity of heat enables pasteurization to be continuous for all elements, excepting the outer albumen. After the outer albumen has reached temperatures below 128 F., the next thinnest substance within the egg identified as the inner albumen will follow the outer albumen in its reduced temperature, but while doing so it will continue with pasteurization. The still denser elements consisting of the vitelline membrane and the yolk will follow the inner albumen and each of those elements at their separate rates will continue to pasteurize. Once the inner albumen reaches the mentioned 128 F., which represents the lowest temperature that pasteurization occurs, the process is reversed to one which begins the application of heat again. Hence, the use of the term cyclical within this Application to cover the elevation of heat applied to a chicken egg, as followed by holding it at that temperature for a predetermined time and reducing the temperature to the same temperature as the beginning and holding it at that temperature for a predetermined time before beginning the elevation of the temperature again. Notably, just as induced chilling aids in providing economic efficiencies to the protocol described through shortening the time taken for pasteurization targeted as measured in logs, the same principle can be employed in overshooting the targeted pasteurization temperature referenced as 132.5 F. for these illustrative purposes. By employing either or both overshooting the targeted pasteurization temperature and the use of induced chilling on a controlled basis to avoid damage to the egg ingredients, efficiencies of time and cost are enabled through shortening the time of the pasteurization cycles which create the mentioned economic benefits. Once equilibrium has been reached throughout each element of the subject eggs at 132.5 F., the subject eggs are held at that temperature to achieve an additional 1-log level more or less of inactivation. Once that additional 1-log level of inactivation has occurred the protocol described repeats itself. Once the targeted log reduction has been achieved through repetition of the protocol described, subject to jurisdictional requirements, the subject eggs are cooled. This cooling occurs preferably through the use of induced chilling either from a purified water spray or the alternative of chilled purified air, and the subject eggs are optionally sprayed a final time with a food-grade antibacterial agent. The antibacterial agent is drawn into the contracting eggs through their exposed pores. These steps are then followed by the application of a shell sealant, which optionally may include a food-grade wax or food-grade plastic sealant or an equivalent that may be applied through various means which include but are not limited to a spray, bath or a roller which provides for a minimum of 95% coverage to the subject eggshells and their exposed pores post pasteurization and prior to exit from the protection of the medium. Upon completion of the above recited steps, post pasteurization, the subject eggs are removed from the protected environment of the pasteurization medium and allowed to proceed with their protected eggshells to their end destinations.

(27) The FIGURE depicts a typical section of flats containing chicken eggs prepared for pasteurization which in practice will be multiplied in quantity to accommodate production suitable to the location of the pasteurization processing facility.

(28) The various key elements contained within the FIGURE include:

(29) Reference Numeral 1: in-shell chicken eggs stacked in flats;

(30) Reference Numeral 2: flats of new and unique design providing for 95% more or less exposure of in-shell eggs to receive tempered and purified air or water;

(31) Reference Numeral 3: depicts the employment of strategically located multiple spray heads which service the application of either purified air or purified water in various forms to both pasteurize and chill the subject eggs.

(32) The employment of strategically-located multiple spray heads enables a preprogrammed saturation of treated air or treated water in various forms ranging from a course spray of water to a mist which is applied directly to the exposed chicken eggshells. The application of water, if selected in lieu of purified air, can be programmed to contain varying spray densities through use of automated spray heads, which are adjustable to not only supply water with varying coarseness of the spray of water employed but also to supply either heated or chilled water containing a food-grade antibacterial agent or solely a food-grade antibacterial agent without water as the protocol employed described hereinabove requires. If air is selected in lieu of water, in principle, the same method of application can be employed, which includes the application of purified air containing preprogrammed temperature changes, as discussed previously, in its employment to be comparable to the protocol employed for water with minor obvious adjustments to accommodate the density differences between substances.

(33) The above described protocol is followed by the eggs ambiently cooling within the protection of the medium, during which time those eggs receive a protective sealant, which preferably is a food-grade wax or as an alternative a food-grade plastic, applied post pasteurization and just prior to the internal egg temperatures having achieved equilibrium with the reduced temperature of the medium that generally will equate to the temperature of the environment external to that of the medium. Post pasteurization, the application of a selected sealant is applied to the exposed chicken eggshells, while still within the protected environment of the medium. The residual heat within the eggs post pasteurization and prior to their exit from the medium will be adequate to draw in through the exposed shell pores the protective eggshell sealant, which protects against recontamination during its route from processing to table. Post application of the sealant, the eggs exit the secured and protective environment of the medium and enter the unprotected environment to point of consumption, while benefiting from having been pasteurized on the inside and being protected on the outside from recontamination.

(34) In the end, the new protocol provides the public with statistically total safety from illnesses caused by either or both viral and bacterial contamination of chicken eggs resulting from materially improved pasteurization enabling new log levels of inactivation to be achieved which provide for total inactivation of the targeted pathogens.

(35) Here follows an outline containing pertinent comments regarding the protocol employed under the new art claimed herein, which not only includes a unique pasteurization protocol but also includes the customized equipment which provides for a novel secured environment within which the equally novel pasteurization protocol is performed.

(36) Sequence Outline:

(37) Prior to commencement of pasteurization, the subject eggs are transferred into flats whose custom design includes the ability to be stacked vertically and to receive a flow of water from strategically located shower heads whose spray is unimpeded by the design of the flats which provides for an even application of the water to flow around each egg and to provide each egg with equal exposure to the variable adjustments of the spray water temperature being applied which will contain a food-grade antibacterial agent at all times except only for the exception outlined herein below. The mentioned water applied through the described spray may vary at times between a mist, a fine spray or a coarse spray which can be automatically alternated for time, temperature and duration to suit the protocol being employed which may change to accommodate the non-identical features of batches of eggs being processed as well as the targeted pathogen selected for inactivation together with the associated variables to achieve pathogenic inactivation which is total.

(38) Initially the stacked eggs within the customized flats prior to entrance into the secured environment of the pasteurization medium optionally will receive a spray of water treated with a food-grade antibacterial agent heated to a temperature which must be below 128 F. and can be as low as 123 F. as the preferred range. That spray of water, as enabled by the strategic location of multiple shower heads together with the design features of the custom design of the egg flats, provide for maximized exposure to the free flow of the water together with its food-grade antibacterial additive which together are provided as an option. If opted, such is performed outside the pasteurization medium for a prescribed time which enables the achievement of each egg and all of its particles to reach equilibrium with the elevated temperature of the sanitized spray water. Once equilibrium has been reached between the internal temperature of the egg and the external spray water temperature being applied, the mentioned spray water temperature, which is located outside of the pasteurization medium never is reduced. That feature provides for the expansion of the internal egg from the heat applied. Through the expansion of the internal egg invasion of external contaminates through the eggshell pores substantially is blocked. Pathogens either existing within the body of the eggs or trapped between the outer membranes and the eggshells in material part will either be forced to exit from the pressure caused by the expansion of the internal eggs or be inactivated by the sanitizing agent contained within the mentioned sanitized water applied. Under the above-described option once the shells have been cleansed with the spray from a shower containing a food-grade antibacterial agent and equilibrium of each internal egg has been achieved with the targeted external shower water temperature, the subject eggs promptly are transferred into the secured environment of the pasteurization medium. In each instance the invasion of airborne pathogens materially will be reduced and the concentration of surviving pathogens being carried within the chicken eggs into the secured environment of the pasteurization medium correspondingly will be reduced under this optional pre-pasteurization protocol preparation. The overall benefit achieved from the optional employment of the external shower is to reduce the quantity of pathogens present upon the eggshells stemming from their having multiplied into quantities resulting from the time made available from the date of lay to the date of the rinsing process, which frequently enables multiplication of the targeted pathogens to become excessive. The described shower provides for the benefit of the quantity of contaminants present upon the eggshells being reduced, but notably are not eliminated through the application of the described shower containing a food-grade antibacterial agent. All of the above protocol is optional to aid in reducing the level of contamination frequently existing upon un-cleansed eggshells prior to entrance into the secured environment of the pasteurization medium. Notably and further to the above, the treated water employed for the rinsing process can be substituted by the use of similar temperatures applied to the subject eggs employing adjustments to accommodate the use of food-grade purified air in lieu of the referenced food-grade purified water. Such would be followed by pasteurization within the referenced safe environment of the medium.

(39) The second new area of primary inventiveness is found to be within a new and unique pasteurization medium created for pasteurization of in-shell chicken eggs with the specific purpose of providing both housing for the mechanics for pasteurization to be performed within a self-sufficient environment. This medium protects against external contamination and is secure from violation of that security throughout the duration of the equally unique pasteurization protocol being employed as described hereinbefore, which achieves total inactivation of pathogens that may be present at high cell count levels stemming from either or both bacterial or viral sources.

(40) Once within the isolated environment of the pasteurization medium, which contains novel security and continuous purification features that are described in greater detail in this same section hereinabove, the eggs receive continuous and varied protection against contamination or recontamination provided to the subject eggs through the optional use of a shower containing a food-grade antibacterial agent, whose temperature is programmed to vary from a preferred pasteurization temperature of 132.5 F. to temperatures below 128 F., which is below the effective pasteurization temperature range. Such water temperature changes occur at prescribed and programmed intervals. All of the above water applications together with their temperature changes and approved food-grade additives for perpetual purification during processing are replaceable with only modest alterations with purified air. The targeted log levels inactivate the more heat-resistant viral strains over those of salmonella strains as may be or come to be found within chicken eggs. In the end, these targeted log levels provide for inactivation of the mentioned pathogens without consequential reduction of the nutritional value of the chicken egg or the loss of or reduction to their raw characteristics whether aesthetic, functional or nutritional benefits. During the described process, the use of different temperatures held for different intervals within the temperature range to and from below 128 F. and 138.5 F. is both programmed and employed to ensure that the targeted log reduction representing total inactivation of the targeted pathogens has been achieved without heat damage to any one element of the subject chicken eggs. For certainty of clarity and understanding, the ability to inactivate targeted pathogens through achieving log level counts never before accomplished, which in the end succeed in achieving their total inactivation without causing heat damage to the subject eggs is made available through the protocol of the new art described. Thus protocol provides protection against heat damage i.e. the beginnings of cooking of any or all elements of the subject eggs through the use of intermittent interruptions of heat and the intermittent interruptions of induced chilling employed at predetermined intervals and durations all of which are performed within a new and unique protocol described and claimed herein. The new protocol recognizes and utilizes not only the natural order of the differing elements within the composition of the eggs, which include from the shell inward the outer albumen, the inner albumen, the vitelline membrane and the yolk. This protocol also employs the new and unique pasteurization formula, which provides for the protocol enabling the total inactivation of targeted pathogens that include numerous strains of salmonella as found within chicken eggs and the more current arrival of viruses which continue to threaten both birds and eggs with viral contamination. Science has confirmed as reported herein elsewhere that viral contamination requires greater heat to inactivate than does salmonella. Since chicken egg pasteurization has targeted salmonella only and has failed to totally inactivate all strains as found within a chicken egg without loss of raw characteristics of the subject chicken eggs, inadequate pasteurization has been practiced for decades primarily upon liquid egg products, which evidence shows over that period of time that practice likely has sickened tens of millions of people. The challenge for a totally effective protocol of pasteurization to resolve the inadequacies of a 5-log protocol of inactivation of salmonella, as measured by the Se strain as found within chicken eggs now is magnified by the need to take pasteurization to a still higher level. This higher level is required to inactivate viruses, which require according to science a general need for 2 logs greater than does salmonella for effective inactivation. The new art has the flexibility to achieve total inactivation, i.e. 10 logs, as applied to viruses, and 12 logs as applied to bacteria, when being pasteurized at the same time. Were mutations to create a greater need for higher levels of inactivation, the new protocol claimed herein can be expanded to manage the inactivation of new strains requiring such.

(41) The new art reflects the discoveries made concerning the relationships between the individual densities of the elements contained within a chicken egg, as such relate to heat tolerances and rates of heat transfer, as further impacted by their relative location to the eggshells. The eggshells are the first locations of the heat being applied externally to the subject eggs. The internal contents of the subject eggs and their specific locations provide for the basis of a new formula for pasteurization. This formula enables a new ability to utilize the differing densities and the individual locations of the components, as found within the subject eggs containing different levels of heat sensitivity as well as different rates of heat transfer, resulting in new art that satisfies the total inactivation of the targeted pathogens without consequential damage to any one of the mentioned elements contained within the subject chicken eggs.

(42) Once the above-described protocol has been performed and the targeted pathogens to be inactivated has occurred and while the subject eggs are within the protection of the secured environment of the mentioned medium, the shells of the pasteurized eggs are treated with a final spray containing solely a food-grade antibacterial agent. That agent is drawn into the subject eggs through the exposed eggshell pores, post substantial pasteurization having occurred, while the internal egg is continuing to contract due to ambient cooling occurring post pasteurization while still within the protected environment provided by the medium. The contraction of the egg while within the safety and purity of the new and unique medium draws into the eggs through their exposed shell pores the food-grade antibacterial agent which provides a final level of security to the subject egg purity achieved from the total inactivation of pathogens through the new pasteurization protocol employed. If any agency of jurisdiction outside of the United States were to disallow the application of the described antibacterial agent to the eggshells post pasteurization employing either air or water as the medium, that added step of precaution intended to inactivate any stray pathogens either can be replaced with a non-liquid agent or eliminated altogether. While still within the protected environment of the medium and while contraction of the internal egg is still in process due to ambient cooling post substantial pasteurization having occurred, the shells of the subject eggs are provided with a food-grade sealant which can be either a wax or a food-grade plastic sealant applied to the eggshells and their exposed pores. Notably, the residual heat during ambient cooling while within the protected environment of the medium draws the selected sealant as applied to the eggshells into the exposed pores of the eggshells, after which, post reaching ambient temperature with the temperature within the medium, the eggs are exited for packaging and shipment.

(43) As is more fully detailed hereinabove, within the description of the new art, which employs pasteurization protocol options of performing pasteurization through either a water based pasteurization protocol or through an air based pasteurization protocol enabled by modest and straight forward modifications, which incorporate the benefits of the unique features contained within the self sufficient and protected environment of the pasteurization medium as modified to accommodate the fluid selected for pasteurization which in each case will provide for the total inactivation of all pathogens as found or may come to be found within chicken eggs through the employment of the new protocol.

(44) Notably and significantly the above described protocol, together with its performance within the uniquely appointed medium, enables a breakthrough to the art of creating pasteurized liquid egg product currently allowed by regulation to be performed at a known to be inadequate 5-log level of inactivation of salmonella as measured by Se. the effectiveness of pasteurization is improved to a level providing for total inactivation of all strains of salmonella, as found within chicken eggs, together with the total inactivation of viruses, which are forecasted to likely become found within chicken eggs. Such is accomplished by first pasteurizing the subject chicken eggs within their shells to a level which provides for total inactivation of the mentioned pathogens, which is accomplished while retaining essentially all of the raw characteristics of the subject chicken eggs which post pasteurization under the new art can be converted into liquid egg products containing equal raw characteristics to those liquid egg products currently employing a substandard 5-log level of inactivation of Se.

(45) The above recitation addresses the pasteurization inadequacies of all prior art to inactivate salmonella, as found within chicken eggs, which, in the end, confirms the need for termination of avoidable public risk caused by salmonella-contaminated chicken eggs, which presently remains to be the single most cause of illness as found within all food groups as reported by US Government agencies. Those reports of illness quantities resulting from the consumption of raw in-shell eggs, whether consumed in their substandard form, which may be the results of mislabeling or untimely distribution together with the inadequacies of a 5-log pasteurization, whether provided to the public through in-shell eggs or their conversion into liquid egg products, in each case represents a serious and costly set of misrepresentations to the public which has spanned decades.

(46) Notably and more dangerously, viruses and their derivatives carry with them more heat-resistant strains of the Avian Influenza virus, which both require greater heat inactivation than do all strains of salmonella and are expected to continue their already present indications to achieve the ability en masse to enable human-to-human transfer giving cause for a pandemic to be forecasted as confirmed by both the scientific community and WHO.

(47) The described new art through its novel features provides for what is effectively considered to be total inactivation of viruses through achieving a pasteurization level providing for a 10-log level of inactivation of all strains of viruses likely to be found within a chicken egg which includes the most dominant strain identified as the H5N1. The USDA Research Laboratory in Athens, Ga., confirms that Se inactivation at the same time and temperature exposures as that of the H5N1 virus produces up to a 40% greater inactivation of Se than does the same exposure as applied to the H5N1 virus as measured in Se bacteria logs. Since it requires 10 logs to inactivate the H5N1 virus with scientific certainty, such would produce an equivalent of a 12-log inactivation of Se automatically to occur. Notably, were either viruses or salmonella bacteria to evolve into more heat-resilient strains that require greater log reduction than 10 logs as applied to viruses, the details provided concerning the capabilities for expansion of levels of inactivation described under the new art will accommodate those needs. This feature is due to the new art's ability to use the features of the cyclical applications of heat and the applications of induced chilling whether in each case through the interchangeable use of water and air within a protocol, which prevents coagulation of the subject eggs but produces total inactivation of the targeted pathogens through repartition of the above referenced and mentioned cyclical process. Through the mentioned protocol, which describes applications of heat and chilling alternating in what is described as a cyclical manner within the prescribed protocol, employing the application and denial of heat log levels of inactivation of both viruses and bacteria representing their total inactivation are achieved while uniquely preserving the raw characteristics of the subject eggs. Notably, under the new art of improved pasteurization, the subject eggs preserve their raw egg characteristics and retain their nutritional benefits, which can be provided to the public as either a safe in-shell chicken egg retaining its raw and nutritional benefits or be employed in conversion into liquid egg product, enabling that product for the first time in its history to rightfully make a claim of reliable safety. The details of the application of the heat and its denial referenced as cyclical in nature have been more fully described herein before in this same section.

(48) For clarity of understanding, the importance of the discovery of the benefits gained from the novel use of a programmed application of heat and its denial as employed during pasteurization in a manner termed to be cyclical in its nature enables the prevention of heat damage to each element of the internal egg. At the same time, the new art provides for the total inactivation of targeted pathogens to be achieved without material loss of the raw characteristics of the subject eggs while notably achieving log levels of pathogenic inactivation never before available without loss of the raw characteristics of the subject eggs. That accomplishment now is restated for emphasis and clarity.

(49) Summary and Conclusions:

(50) The US-FDA as preceded by the USDA traditionally allowed eggs contaminated with a virus identified as the H3N1 to be pasteurized to the equivalency of a 4-log level of inactivation using the bacterial strain of Se as the measure when found within chicken eggs that were intended for uses specific to liquid egg product. Under the Egg Safety Final Rule adopted in 2009 the mentioned 4-log inactivation protocol as applied to the bacteria strain Se was increased to 5 logs which was intended to use Se as representing the level of inactivation for all strains of salmonella as well as all levels of contamination of salmonella as may be found within all chicken eggs which included both liquid egg product and pasteurized in-shell chicken eggs as they may occur. That determination clearly implied that no meaningful level of contamination of a chicken egg occurred beyond that as may be found within the specific strain of salmonella identified as Se. The Final Rule did not address viral contamination at all. The inadequacy of a 5 log level of inactivation of Se as the salmonella strain of measure to provide safety to a public consuming less than hard-cooked chicken eggs and believing in their safety as generated by the term PASTEURIZED as displayed on the egg cartons together with the USDA shield also displayed on the egg cartons which in both cases were reinforced by the absence of the Safe Handling Instructions to be displayed on all unpasteurized shell egg cartons by requirement now needs the inclusion of viruses to be added to the Safe Handling Instructions to represent a totally new threat to the public health which may grow to be pandemic in its proportion. The justification for the inclusion of viruses within the mentioned Safe Handling Instructions is to provide a continuing recommendation that hard-cooking not only successfully replaces lack of pasteurization but also protects against the inadequacies of current levels of pasteurization to inactivate viruses which represent a recognized threat to the public to be delivered by a pandemic caused from the avian influenza virus.

(51) Notably and significantly the described new inventiveness for the first time enables the total destruction of all known to exist salmonella strains as found within chicken eggs which under the new inventiveness renders them statistically inactivated through achievement of log levels never before actually demonstrated to have been achieved and reduced to practice while at the same time materially exceeding the current existing targeted level of a 5-log destruction of Salmonella enteriditis as set by the US-FDA as being sufficient for salmonella inactivation as carried within the language of the Egg Safety Final Rule of 2009 when none such safety can be assured. Under the new art the improved level of inactivation as measured in logs is available to destroy all of the more heat-resistant strains of bacteria than Se as found within S. Senftemberg 775W, Heidelberg, Typhimurium, Newport and Javiana as but a few examples of strains of salmonella found within chicken eggs which require more heat than Salmonella enteriditis (Se) for their inactivation which within Se itself carries with it sub-strains requiring higher inactivation than does the primary strain identified as Se. Said differently the use of Se as the measure for inactivation of salmonella on its face according to science requires materially more than 5-logs as set by the US-FDA under the new Rule of 2009.

(52) Notably and of related importance sterilization of a chicken egg will inactivate pathogens but at the cost of the loss of nutritional values. It is pertinent to note that pasteurization preserves both the nutritional benefits and the raw characteristics of a chicken egg even when pasteurized at 12-logs as is made available under the new art described herein which inactivates all strains of salmonella known to be found within chicken eggs as well as those viral strains which have currently been found within chickens and may come to be found within chicken eggs in the future. The forecasted pandemic as provided by experts within the field of viral contamination as of 2015 confirms that such would result from viral strains entering chicken flocks and their resulting eggs which raises the probability of causing massive quantities of illnesses to occur from the natural spread of the virus to humans which materially would be magnified by one mutation enabling the transfer of illness to occur from human-to-human as is confirmed by selective cases already having occurred in separate geographies ranging from Europe through Asia. Even in the absence of a mutation which enables human-to-human transfer the foundation for a pandemic caused by Avian Influenza as may come to be found within chicken eggs remains to be an international public health threat of pandemic proportions as confirmed by world experts including the World Health Organization.

(53) In the instance of new strains of viruses such carry with them a new and unique threat to public health not previously experienced from chicken eggs. As found under the H5N1 virus its potential ability to transfer serious and frequent fatal illnesses occurring from human-to-human has given cause for the scientific community to forecast that through mutations or deviations from the mentioned H5N1 it can be reliably forecasted that such will give cause for either one of or part of a base viral source to convert into an aggressive viral source which will provide for the rapid and broad transfer of illnesses from human-to-human which in the end creates the already confirmed arrival of that virus as being the foundation for a pandemic whether through human-to-human transfer of the virus or whether through the common areas of exposures to the public at large. The described deficiencies of current chicken egg pasteurization protocols employed to inactivate the targeted bacteria selected using Se as the measure employed when combined with the greater levels of inactivation of salmonella required to inactivate viral strains once considered together reconfirm the warnings provided by WHO that the public at large is exposed to illnesses from Avian Influenza, and the forecasted pandemic resulting from both the virus continuing to evolve and the vaccine development being incomplete due to the continuing evolution of the virus together give cause for the government agencies of jurisdiction to be delayed from resolving the issues encountered in the process of trying to protect the public health to be likened to that of a moving target. The new art disclosed and described herein contains a unique protocol which eliminates the above mentioned dilemma of a threat to public health as caused by the portion of that threat contributed to by virally and bacterially contaminated chicken eggs. The new health threats from viruses which exceed in their magnitude the health threats of those already existing from bacteria as found within chicken eggs are confirmed through reports provided by the international scientific community which are reconfirmed through forecasts from the World Health Organization that a pandemic containing viruses and labeled as the Bird Flu is within the making as enabled by more heat-resistant viruses now identified to be carried by chickens as illustrated by the presence of the H5N1 virus among other virus strains now confirmed to exist and continuing to evolve. Those viruses together with their deviations may provide for human-to-human transfer of illness. Although viruses are heat-sensitive those associated with chickens and their eggs require greater heat than prior art can deliver to achieve inactivation without loss of raw egg characteristics. The new art claimed herein discloses pasteurization to be available at log levels without damage to the raw characteristics of the subject chicken eggs which provides for inactivation of both salmonella bacteria in all strains as known to be found within chicken eggs as well as all strains of viral contamination as may come to be found within chicken eggs as identified and confirmed by the USDA Research Laboratory in published reports on that very subject area. Were a pandemic to occur the new art referenced and claimed herein will enable chicken eggs to be used for a needed safe food source while at the same time eliminating those chicken eggs from becoming carriers of contamination and to further magnify the scope of the pandemic.

(54) As discussed in greater detail within this section hereinbefore, the initial step employed within the pasteurization medium involves the selection of the vehicle to transfer heat or chilling to the subject in-shell eggs being pasteurized. The selections include the use of a water bath treated with a food-grade purifier, which is not the pasteurization medium of preference. The preferred options include uses of a water spray treated with a food-grade purifier, which is equally preferred with the use of air also treated with a food-grade purifier as the medium to transfer air through nozzles similar to those employed for water. In each case, the selected vehicle contains induced heat and induced chilling carried to the subject in-shell chicken eggs through employment of a new and unique protocol. This protocol contains the applications of both heat and chilling at preprogrammed temperatures for preprogrammed intervals and durations applied to the subject in-shell chicken eggs, which deliver at the end of the protocol selected chicken eggs that contain a level of pasteurization which both are free of targeted pathogens and have retained substantially all of their aesthetic and functional raw egg characteristics. The shower containing either sanitized water or sanitized air is performed at prescribed intervals for prescribed temperatures and durations, within the confines of the protected environment provided by the medium. The temperatures initially of the water or air being applied always will be elevated in their initial application to be above the temperature of the subject eggs upon their receipt into the medium. Both options of the referenced showers will contain a food-grade antibacterial agent to ensure that water and air purity are maintained for continuous inactivation of pathogens which may be present. Unlike all forms of water rinses generally practiced in the United States, the water circulated through the mentioned showerheads will be continuously cleansed during recirculation. The mentioned water employed will contain the option to be in the form of a spray or a mist. The precaution of the internal egg temperatures being equal to or slightly lower than the temperature within the medium at time of entrance is required to protect against residual pathogens present from accelerating their multiplication within the new and secured environment provided by the medium.

(55) The protocol recited above, together with the mentioned features concerning perpetually circulating purified water which may be substituted with similarly treated purified air, is provided to the exposed chicken eggshells within the secured and perpetually sanitized environment provided by the pasteurization medium. The protocol is further enhanced in its effectiveness by multiple layers of filtration, heat and ultraviolet treatment, along with a food-grade antibacterial agent continuously applied to the purified water or air throughout the pasteurization processes of each batch of eggs. All of the recited options, protocol employed, features of the medium and the controlled intermittent applications of heat together with induced chilling collectively are unique to the new art, which ensures total inactivation of targeted pathogens, retention of both nutritional and raw characteristics of the subject eggs and the preservation of the benefits of pasteurization achieved from risks of recontamination of the subject eggs from pasteurization through table as enabled and reinsured by the uniquely secured environment of the medium.

(56) The temperature within the shower serviced by purified water or as employed by its air alternative is to be controlled for accuracy of both time and temperature through continuous monitoring of the internal temperatures of the subject chicken eggs, which include the outer albumen, the inner albumen, the vitelline membrane, the yolk and the air sack, to ensure that variations caused by the environment of the subject eggs together with their sizes, i.e. weight, together with differing impacts upon the subject chicken eggs in their receipt of heat or chilling applied in ratios preprogrammed for the art described herein together with adjustments called for by differences found within water or air temperatures and exposure times to those temperatures. These variations satisfy the peculiarities of egg sources that include but are not limited to size, diet, water consumption, altitude and other factors understood by those skilled in the art. As the expansion of the egg content occurs during pasteurization, certain targeted pathogen cells, whether inactivated or not, are forced out from the egg through its pores into the environment of the medium. At this point, continued inactivation is provided through built-in protective provisions contained within the medium, which create the inactivation of targeted pathogens through exposure of the residual pathogens to ultraviolet, dry heat and food-grade anti-pathogenic agents applied directly to the eggshells. Notably and specifically, post the subject eggs having achieved substantial pasteurization through use of either purified water or purified air, depending upon the protocol selected, and only after pasteurization has been substantially completed in achieving the targeted log level for inactivation of the targeted pathogens while remaining within the protected environment of the medium, the subject eggs optionally can be relocated within the medium to a separate area within the medium. In either case, the eggs are provided with a shower of water or air containing the selected food use approved bactericide or alternatives which may be more appropriate for viral contamination. As an option to purified water and of equal merit for the eggs being processed, the use of purified air containing a selected food use approved bactericide can be employed. Under either protocol, the fluid choice selected to be used within water or air may require approval for food-grade use together with the ability to inactivate the targeted pathogens whether bacterial or viral. After the subject eggs have received the mentioned application of the agent selected and are ambiently cooling, the continued contraction of the subject eggs draws the mentioned agent into the eggs through its exposed shell pores, which provides for additional protection of both the pasteurization results and reinforces protection against unexpected anomalies causing recontamination to occur. Post receipt by the eggshells and their exposed pores of the above mentioned agent selected, the subject eggs while continuing to contract internally from residual heat and prior to their exit from the protection provided by the medium, receive a sealant to the eggshells and its pores consisting of either a food-grade wax or a food-grade plastic as the preferred sealants. That described final step of providing the sealant to the subject eggshells, as performed within the medium, protects the subject eggs from a contaminated environment, which always is a factor present for unprotected pasteurized eggs being exposed to environments which commonly are contaminated to an extent which over time would void the benefits of pasteurization.

(57) Notably and materially, the above described protocol provides for equally effective variables within a common protocol to employ either purified water or purified air as the vehicle of choice to provide for both the application of heat and chilling of chicken eggs to achieve the safety provided through levels of pasteurization which in the end are total. Where agencies of jurisdiction are concerned with the employment of water in any form to either cleanse eggshells or to employ a water based pasteurization protocol, air can be optionally utilized together with its purification and ability to carry with it the transfer of heat to both pasteurize and to purify the air from contaminants along with other described agents which too are not water dependent. Cleansed air provides for an end product, which not only extends shelf life to be greater than un-refrigerated, un-cleaned eggshells and the results from unwashed and un-refrigerated eggs, but also ensures protection against the natural inclination of the public storing eggs that are unwashed and not fresh longer than is appropriate before consumption. Notably, the new art satisfies the recited concerns over the employment of water in any form associated with chicken eggshells. The new art also provides for superior safety from current bacterial risks, as found to be present on eggshells, and safety from their transfer into both the eggs internally through the passage of time, which is enabled by the deterioration of the natural sealant provided to the eggshell pores, which usually occurs in 10 days or less. In certain jurisdictions a 5-log level of inactivation of bacteria, when present within an egg or upon its shell, has been deemed to be sufficient to provide public safety to consume less than hard-cooked chicken eggs. The bacteria of measure in the United States is salmonella in the Se strain. The new art described and claimed herein achieves the true inactivation level of all strains of salmonella, as now is known to be found within chicken eggs with the possible but unreliable exception of chicken eggs which are unwashed, un-refrigerated and consumed promptly. The new art described herein initially targeted a 10-log inactivation level of salmonella and succeeded in doing so without loss of nutritional, aesthetic or raw functional characteristics, which matched United States Government studies concluded in the 1970's intended for liquid egg product safety. The new art described herein not only provides for protection against recontamination during or post pasteurization but also provides for levels of excessive pasteurization which inactivates viruses. No other solution to chicken egg contamination from either bacterial or viral sources exists, except as found within the new art claimed herein or through hard-cooking. Notably the new art provides an option to employ either water or air in a secured environment to achieve the targeted level of inactivation needed for not only normal levels of contamination of salmonella as found within chicken eggs but also materially higher levels commonly found to be present within chicken eggs contaminated by various salmonella strains which readily multiply into tens of millions of cells when un-refrigerated in a matter of 30 days. The new found risk from viruses requires generally a 20% greater level of inactivation than does salmonella. The new art optionally can be programmed to inactivate both pathogens totally while retaining substantially all of the nutritional, aesthetic and functional characteristics of a fresh and raw chicken egg.

(58) Anecdotally, under prior art, the eggs post pasteurization, as performed within a treated water bath, were transferred out of the bath onto a conveyor belt. The time of transfer averaged approximately 3 minutes. After transfer onto a conveyor belt, the subject eggs promptly were provided with a spray of an antibacterial agent to avoid airborne recontamination. During that mentioned 3 minute period, within which the subject eggs were exposed to an external environment containing a significant negative atmospheric pressure change, most of the eggs became recontaminated from airborne salmonella contamination. The scientific community at the time doubted that the source of contamination was airborne, but subsequent testing reconfirmed what was then considered to be an experience which was an anomaly. The secured environment provided under the new art to perform all phases of pasteurization from inception through application of a protective sealant post pasteurization completion under the new art described herein is performed within a uniquely self-sufficient, self-cleansing and secured environment which avoids all avenues of inadequate pasteurization and all areas of potential recontamination. Of particular importance, the inventive features include protection of the pasteurization level achieved from both external contamination post pasteurization and at the same time provides for the performance of pasteurization not only using unique protocols but also using equally unique equipment which includes new flexibilities to the equipment contained within a medium within which the transfer of heat together now with induced chilling is provided.

(59) To better understand the significance of the discovery of the benefits derived from the creation of a new medium for pasteurization containing self-sufficiency, required security and an environment within which the new and unique protocol for pasteurization of in-shell chicken eggs is performed, the following described failures under prior art of this same inventor is provided.

(60) First, the targeted level for pasteurization of in-shell chicken eggs, as provided to this inventor by senior officials at the US-FDA in 1997, was that a 5-log reduction of Salmonella enteriditis (Se) as may be found within in-shell chicken eggs. That level of pasteurization as represented to this inventor who eventually performed such in all respects enabled the in-shell egg carton to display the term PASTEURIZED and to abandon the display of the term Safe Handling Instructions together with its language displayed on unpasteurized in-shell egg cartons which advised in specific terms that chicken eggs may cause illness if not hard-cooked and more particularly identified those persons who are members of the high risk groups.

(61) Second, the level of pasteurization originally set for liquid egg product in or 1970 was 10-logs. Sometime subsequent to that date the level of inactivation of salmonella within liquid egg products being produced through passage within a heated tube was relaxed to 4-logs to accommodate liquid egg product producers who were having difficulty with coagulation while pasteurizing co-mingled chicken eggs converted into liquid form. That relaxation never was provided to the public nor this inventor even though that relaxed standard was in place for nearly two decades before the above-mentioned request for a level of pasteurization for in-shell eggs was made and provided by the US-FDA to be at the above mentioned 5-log level.

(62) The consequences of the above are reflected within the US-FDA Egg Safety Rule of 2009, which altered liquid egg product inactivation of salmonella from the above mentioned 4-logs to 5-logs which equated to that which was provided for in-shell eggs. That level of inactivation continues through the date of this writing.

(63) As noted more fully elsewhere hereinbefore, various practices continue which threaten public health in magnified amounts over that which would occur from inadequate pasteurization at 5-logs of contaminated chicken eggs were such to be practiced in otherwise good faith. Nonesuch good faith practices have occurred.

(64) Specifically, two Grade B eggs are allowed in each dozen of so marked and so displayed with the USDA Shield which confirms that the subject eggs have been as Grade A eggs.

(65) Further to the above, unsold eggs are allowed to be repackaged and to be provided with a Grade A symbol to replace the same symbol on the prior package and are allowed to have a new Best By date which generally is represented to be 30 days post packaging. Such enables a minimum of between two and three months from date of lay through to the last day of the Best By date represented.

(66) Still further, the average number of eggs produced within the United States annually exceeds 8 billion dozen of which somewhat more than 2 billion dozen are converted into liquid egg product. The new US-FDA Rule referenced above allows for known to be highly contaminated chicken eggs to be co-mingled into liquid egg product once pasteurized to a 5-log level of inactivation as measured by Se. As mentioned hereinbefore, the original standard for inactivation of salmonella was set at 10-logs and no science since has justified a correction to that standard.

(67) Further to the above, new teachings confirm that the quantity and concentration of salmonella bacteria which now includes viruses during the application of the heat utilized for pasteurization together with the resulting expansion of the internal egg content give cause to those pathogens to escape from within the subject chicken eggs through the shell pores and to become airborne in significant quantities not previously either known to or expected to occur as has been confirmed by experts within the scientific community. The negative atmosphere common to egg processing facilities frequently has been found to be insufficient to discharge the volume of salmonella cells being generated from the commercial scale egg grading and washing section in combination with the pasteurization being performed. Post pasteurization of in-shell chicken eggs, the air contained within the processing environment frequently became overrun by the quantity of salmonella cells being discharged from the pasteurization process which gave cause to provide an inability of the negative atmosphere employed within the pasteurization area to successfully discharge the quantity of salmonella cells that had become airborne. Once the mass of pasteurized in-shell chicken eggs began contracting post their heat treatment through, either ambient or induced cooling, their collective contraction created an air current enabling the free floating airborne salmonella cells to be attracted to the eggshells along with their exposed pores which in the end gave cause for each and every egg to be at risk of having salmonella contamination. That phenomenon now is found to be applicable to viral contamination since the eggs being pasteurized target both salmonella and viruses. That new knowledge resulting from Government studies has changed the frequency of risk of salmonella contamination currently found within chicken eggs to be from one egg in 3,600 eggs ranging to one egg in 20,000 eggs depending on the level of salmonella cells found i.e. one egg in 20,000 eggs representing the least in frequency but having the most serious health consequences. Prior art for pasteurization never has achieved either reliable total inactivation of highly salmonella contaminated chicken eggs, nor have protective measures such as reliance upon uninterrupted deep chilling successfully provided public protection. Such directly as well as by indirect references is confirmed by Government studies which recently reconfirm that both salmonella caused illnesses from under cooked chicken eggs remains to be the leading cause of food-borne illness in the United States, and reconfirmation from similar Government agencies of standing exists that one egg in 20,000 eggs remains to be contaminated giving cause to illnesses which continue to occur at the same long-standing rate of frequency. Under the prior art employed for pasteurization of in-shell chicken eggs a phenomenon occurred which resulted from in-shell eggs internally expanding as caused by the heat being applied to achieve pasteurization. That expansion caused inordinate quantities of salmonella cells present within the subject eggs and upon the subject eggshells to become airborne under the pressure of the expansion of the internal eggs en mass. The quantity of salmonella cells airborne were too great for disbursement by negative atmospheres employed even when aided by exhaust systems. The result was and may continue to be that a greater percent of the subject eggs became contaminated from the eggs post-pasteurization collectively contracting internally and creating a current drawing the airborne salmonella cells back onto the exposed pores of the eggshells post-pasteurization which created more salmonella-contaminated eggs than existed had pasteurization not been provided at all. Under the new art claimed herein, a primary area of inventiveness is found within the medium described, which resolves the unfortunate discovery previously experienced under prior art that airborne recontamination of eggs was inevitable unless new measures of security were to be employed. Specifically those measures to be employed would require addressing of the quantity of airborne bacteria present despite prior countermeasures employed which included negative atmosphere and prompt chilling post-pasteurization. Those issues remained unresolved under prior art as found within the patent issued to this same inventor identified as the U.S. Pat. No. 6,692,784 B2. The problems of recontamination described herein above together with inadequate pasteurization of salmonella through an art employing a target of a 5-log level of inactivation as represented by Se is compounded as a public health risk when the pasteurization protocol which currently exists is faced with the need for inactivation of all cells of salmonella stemming from all strains of salmonella as further compounded by the now present viral strains requiring greater levels of inactivation as measured in logs than do salmonella strains for their total inactivation which no present art employed commercially achieves.

(68) The first of the two primary areas of inventiveness is described to be cyclical in its nature. That term is applied because it is apt to the new art that provides for the application of heat and its denial in a programmed manner which is unique. Specifically, the new art provides for the application of heat to in-shell chicken eggs which raises each element internal to the subject chicken eggs to a predetermined targeted pasteurization temperature. Depending upon the tolerance level of the outer albumen to the heat applied the subject eggs are held at a predetermined temperature identified as the pasteurization temperature long enough to achieve partial pasteurization but short enough to avoid damage to the outer albumen. Once that time frame has been established to suit the peculiarities of the subject eggs as influenced by size, water content and other considerations discussed herein before the egg temperatures are lowered to protect the outer albumen which contains the greatest heat sensitivity and the greatest rate of heat loss. The outer albumen of each egg gains that protection from temperatures below the minimum pasteurization temperature of 128 F. For reasons discussed in greater detail herein before, the other elements of the chicken eggs due to their locations being more remote on a graduated basis from the heat or cooling sources being applied on a programmed basis do not require the same level of protection from heat damage as does the outer albumen. Notably, when heat is applied to an in-shell egg the outer albumen is the first element achieving an inactivation level involving the targeted pathogens. The other elements of the chicken eggs are slower than the outer albumen to react to both heat and its denial which includes both induced chilling and accelerated heat gain. By applying heat to all elements of the eggs and discontinuing the application of heat once equilibrium between all elements within the chicken eggs and the targeted pasteurization temperature have occurred the chicken eggs are held at that temperature depending upon their individual characteristics for a period of time, most often producing a 1.0- to a 1.75-log reduction of the targeted pathogens which is expected to be a virus requiring a greater number of cycles for their inactivation than those required to inactivate current strains of salmonella bacteria which require a lesser level of inactivation than viruses but approximate twice that which currently is being employed and endorsed by regulation. After the inactivation level has been calculated into time required for each cycle mentioned such is divided into the selected log level of inactivation targeted which once employed provides for total inactivation of the targeted pathogen.

(69) The above-described protocol, when employed in the following sequence, creates a description of the novel method employed for pasteurization of in-shell chicken eggs through use of the unique characteristics of the outer albumen to provide for the parameters to be employed through the application of heat and its denial through which from repetition a cycle of events that includes in the order of their occurrence raising the internal temperatures of the subject eggs to a targeted pasteurization temperature and holding that achieved temperature for a prescribed time as governed by the heat tolerance level of the outer albumen which is followed by the lowering of the temperature of the outer albumen to be below 128 F. that in the end produces a result as measured in logs achieved for the inactivation of the targeted pathogen then is repeated until said logs achieved equate to those logs required for that targeted pathogen to be totally inactivated. That protocol creates what is described to be a cyclical event stemming from the repeated application of heat as the beginning point of pasteurization resulting from the internal heat of the subject chicken eggs achieving 128 F. and being elevated to the selected pasteurization temperature as measured by each element within the chicken eggs each achieving temperatures which at minimum are equal to or may slightly exceed the common internal pasteurization temperature targeted for each chicken egg. At the point in time that all elements within the subject chicken eggs having achieved the mentioned pasteurization temperature selected, the subject eggs, depending upon their characteristics, are held at that temperature for a time which more or less achieves 1.0-logs at minimum. Post achievement of the mentioned log level resulting from the holding time at the targeted pasteurization temperature, the subject eggs are cooled through preferably induced chilling to the extent that the outer albumen singularly reaches a temperature below 128 F. more rapidly through the preferred induced chilling. Once that has been achieved the described cycle is resumed and repeated until each element as previously described to be within the subject chicken eggs has achieved the targeted log level which equates to the total inactivation of the targeted pathogen selected. The achievement of the log level targeted through the art employed is enabled by the protection against heat damage of the outer albumen which uniquely is accomplished through the intermittent programmed lowering of the temperature selected for pasteurization being intermittently applied which includes the mentioned induced chilling also being applied intermittently on a pre-programmed basis which enables the outer albumen to fall below 128 F., as programmed to avoid heat damage. That protocol is unique within the art of pasteurization and protects the outer albumen from heat damage while at the same time allows for the denser portions of the subject eggs to continue to receive heat albeit in lesser quantities, which, in the end, provides each element including the outer albumen with a level of inactivation, which is complete, as applied to both bacteria and viruses that may be present while retaining substantially all of the physical and nutritional benefits of a raw egg.

(70) The achievement of the targeted log level by each of the non-identical elements of the subject in-shell chicken eggs is achieved by the continuous pasteurization provided to those elements, excepting that of the outer albumen for reason that, as mentioned earlier, the outer albumen singularly is protected against heat damage causing loss of raw characteristics through programmed lowering and raising of its temperature to below 128 F., which protects it against heat damage. Programmed test results confirm that the achievement of the targeted log level by the densest and most remote element within a chicken egg is found to be the yolk. Through adjusting the holding time of the outer albumen while below 128 F., damage to any one element within the egg in terms of heat causing loss of raw characteristics is avoided by the automatic reduction of the heat to each of the other elements although differing in their quantity and rate due to their differing densities and locations as related to both the outer albumen and the external source of the heat being transferred through the eggshell. Although the targeted log reduction may vary between the least dense outer albumen with those of the more dense other elements contained within the subject in-shell chicken eggs, enough flexibility in heat tolerance has been learned to exist for those elements to allow for the targeted log level of the densest element as found to be the yolk to achieve the same targeted log level of inactivation, while at the same time avoiding damage to the other elements i.e. the inner albumen and the vitelline membrane without consequential loss of their raw characteristics. That cycle on average will produce a log result which as applied to each element of the chicken eggs will in non-exact form produce an expected total single cyclical result of a 1.5-log reduction for each element within the chicken eggs. Therefore, if the log reduction programmed is targeted to inactivate all strains of salmonella such would require up to eight cycles to achieve inactivation equating to 10-logs which in the end uniquely provides for the total inactivation of that pathogen. As the characteristics of the egg change and as the heat tolerance of the bacteria or viruses change so do the targeted log levels required for their inactivation, which is provided through the flexibility contained within the new art. This new art is adaptable to accommodate specifically the peculiar and differing needs for inactivation of the targeted pathogens through adjustments to separately or in combination the pasteurization temperature, the speed of each cycle and the duration of the time the subject eggs are held at the pasteurization temperature along with their time held at the lowest temperature which occurs when the outer albumen is below 128 F. The protocol employed is provided through a computerized program, which both computes and manages the specific temperature settings and their durations to be employed along with the number of cycles required to achieve total inactivation of the targeted pathogens without consequential damage to any one element of the subject chicken eggs. At the end of the cycles employed, the targeted log reduction of the chicken eggs will have been achieved by each of its elements but not in identical quantities. What will occur is that each element having different density characteristics within their composition will reflect their differing tolerances to heat through receiving modest excesses to the logs provided within the formula employed to achieve the targeted log level of inactivation of the targeted pathogens. Test results confirm that excesses to individual elements within the chicken egg are inconsequential to giving cause for loss of raw characteristics by any one element exceeding the targeted log reduction from the particular formula variables employed under the specifications contained within the new art. The results achieved provide for total inactivation of the targeted pathogens, whether bacterial or viral, as currently found or may come to be found within or upon chicken eggs, which no other art successfully has achieved through a production dedicated to commercial uses. That new achievement uniquely is provided from the described cyclical application of heat and its denial which enables the total inactivation of targeted pathogens through achievement of required log levels performed in a manner which provides total safety to the consumer without damage to the raw characteristics of the subject eggs or the loss of their nutritional benefits. The two areas of primary inventiveness currently being summarized are described in greater detail earlier within this same section. The same art provides for the elimination of the risk of recontamination of the subject chicken eggs from not only all salmonella strains but also viruses which is enabled through the area of primary inventiveness previously discussed and as is further discussed herein below.

(71) The benefits from levels of pasteurization described above, as made available through the cyclical application of heat and its denial, has been identified as the first of two primary areas of inventiveness, which now has been made available through the new art described and claimed herein. That important area of new art is complemented by a second primary area of inventiveness, which includes a new and unique pasteurization medium that is secure from the risks contained within an external environment to which chicken eggs are exposed whether as raw in-shell eggs or as converted into pasteurized in-shell chicken eggs. The problems of initial contamination of chicken eggs, whether the contamination is salmonella bacteria or viral, are not limited to caged hens for reason that un-caged hens generally share the same exposures to contaminants as caged hens which if not identical are replaced by the peculiarities of sources unique to each environment.

(72) Within the second element of the two primary areas of inventiveness, as contained within the new art, the previously described new and unique pasteurization medium provides total and continuous security from the external environment, which, in the end, enables the subject eggs to be protected from the perils contained within the unprotected external environment. In the unprotected external environment, the extremely difficult problem exists, caused by airborne recontamination occurring either post pasteurization or if not post pasteurization post lay while the internal eggs are contracting through cooling within a totally unprotected environment until reaching ambient temperature. Certain attempts to sanitize rinse water applied to raw chicken eggshells have been utilized, but that practice is flawed to an extent from which contamination is enhanced and spread more often than reduced.

(73) Exposures to the external environment post pasteurization under all prior art currently employed for in-shell egg pasteurization includes the risk of airborne contaminants whose mass has been proven to be uncontrollable. That phenomenon gives cause for recontamination or increased contamination to pasteurized eggs, resulting from the mass of airborne salmonella cells created by the expansion of the subject chicken eggs during pasteurization whose presence eliminates the benefits gained from pasteurization by nullifying the safety levels achieved through pasteurization. The problem described in substantial part stems from the application of an antibacterial agent to the eggshells promptly after pasteurization. In this case, pasteurization becomes nullified by the speed of the airborne pathogens attaching themselves to the exposed eggshells in great quantities within the time frame of the three minutes provided from the time of exit of the eggs from the medium to the time of application of the antibacterial agent. Through the phenomenon described, the safety gained through pasteurization is nullified. Pasteurization experience confirms that even within an environment which employs a negative atmosphere to rid the pasteurization area of airborne contaminants, the quantity of airborne contaminants attracted to the exposed pores of the subject eggshells in a matter of three minutes post pasteurization overcame both the negative atmosphere of the pasteurization area and the protective measures provided by the application of an antibacterial agent to all eggshells and their exposed pores, even when applied in drenching quantities at a lower temperature than that of the internal eggs to ensure their absorption. Such resulted in greater quantities of eggs being contaminated than would have existed had no pasteurization been performed.

(74) All of the above issues are resolved by the second of the two primary areas of inventiveness, which is referred to as the pasteurization medium. The pasteurization medium uniquely contains a secured environment, along with numerous safeguards contained within that environment, to preserve its integrity, which includes total security from the outside environment beginning at the commencement of pasteurization through to its completion. The features of the new medium containing the protected environment within which pasteurization is performed are discussed in greater detail earlier within this same section. The sealed environment of the medium avoids reliance upon a negative atmosphere, where pasteurization is performed as employed under prior art, which failed to provide protection and in fact allowed for recontamination from airborne salmonella cells to occur in great quantities all as previously described within this section. At completion of the pasteurization performed under the new art but before exit from the medium, a protective sealant to the exposed eggshells is provided to each egg. Unless damaged during shipment, the sealant provides for the protection needed to maintain the subject chicken eggs to be both free from internal contamination and free from external recontamination, as a result of the combination of the eggs having been pasteurized to be pathogen free to the levels required for such, together with the protection provided to prevent recontamination from the benefits of the environment within which pasteurization was performed, together with the protection provided against recontamination through the proper sealing of the eggshells as described and while still within the protected environment of the medium.

(75) The first of two primary areas of inventiveness as is discussed and claimed hereinabove at the inception of this section includes the cyclical application of heat and its denial to in-shell chicken eggs, which enables the unique ability to inactivate targeted pathogens without loss of the raw characteristics as found within raw in-shell chicken eggs.

(76) The second primary area of inventiveness containing the vehicle described for pasteurization is identified and referred to as the pasteurization medium includes features enabling total inactivation of pathogens which in turn enables the art contained within the previously discussed first of the two primary claims contained herein to occur. Within the novel pasteurization medium its features include a new and unique self-sufficient and clinically safe environment for the pasteurization of in-shell chicken eggs from inception of pasteurization through to its conclusion. The medium contains unique abilities to provide purity to an end product through continuous purification of all elements within its secured environment. To perform the second of the two primary areas of the new inventiveness which includes the ability, more fully discussed hereinbefore, to pasteurize in-shell chicken eggs to materially higher logs than available under prior art as measured by logs applicable to either or both viruses and salmonella bacteria. In the end, the medium provides for their total inactivation without risk, from commencement through completion, of the pasteurization protocol employed to be subject to either recontamination or loss of the nutritional benefits and raw characteristics of the subject in-shell chicken eggs resulting from the pasteurization process. Such is accomplished within the new medium which provides for the continuous sanitized protection of the equipment together with the continuous sanitization of the air contained within the secured environment of the medium, as well as the continuous sanitization of the water optionally employed in lieu of air to perform pasteurization. Collectively all of the above-described features contained within the medium provide for an environment which is supported by independent self-servicing capabilities which enable uninterrupted pasteurization processing to occur from commencement of pasteurization through to its conclusion. The new art also provides through its innovative improvements protection against contamination from viral sources, whether internal to the egg before pasteurization or external to the egg post-pasteurization through employment of a protocol which enables total inactivation of all known contaminants to chicken eggs, whether viral or bacterial either existing or anticipated to occur. Such is accomplished through optional levels of pasteurization made available under the new art which utilizes the new knowledge gained from the heat transfer rates of each of the differing elements found within a chicken egg, which is converted into a formula that is applied through use of a repetitive protocol which enables adjustments to achieve differing levels of inactivation as required for a specifically identified targeted pathogen or the strain of that pathogen requiring a specific level of heat exposure for its inactivation.

(77) In summary, there are two new and unique primary areas of inventiveness for pasteurization of in-shell chicken eggs, which when employed together in the manner described herein throughout enable the achievement of total inactivation of targeted pathogens which under all prior art never has been available without either damage to the raw characteristics of the subject eggs or the loss of their nutritional qualities.

(78) The first of those mentioned two primary areas of inventiveness involves a programmed cyclical application of heat and its denial within which adjustments are made to the application durations of the selected temperature of the heat being applied to the subject chicken eggshells together with its denial and its replacement with induced chilling for pre-selected application durations. Such is performed through programs employed, which change from one to another as influenced by the targeted log levels of inactivation required for a specific pathogen, as further influenced by the specific characteristics of the subject chicken eggs. Those targeted results include timings of the protocol employed, which govern the durations of the applications of heat and induced chilling without causing damage to the raw characteristics of the subject eggs. This ability is provided by the flexibilities of time and temperature contained within the protocol employed that enable the total inactivation of targeted pathogens through the flexibility provided from differing exposures to heat as tempered by the ingredients of the new art to be intermittent in its application of heat. a This allows for total inactivation of the most heat resistant pathogens which may be found or come to be found within chicken eggs.

(79) In the preferred embodiment of the pasteurization medium described, which includes the protocol employed for heat gain and loss that target different elements within the composition of the egg, which through the selective management of heat, as applied to those elements, enables the acceptance of higher log levels of inactivation of both viral and bacterial contamination to occur without material reduction of the raw characteristics of the targeted chicken eggs. The cyclical application and denial of heat through induced chilling is accomplished through measuring logs achieved, which result from heat application having been applied throughout the eggs in a manner which addresses the differing locations and densities of each element within the composition of a chicken egg. Those mentioned elements include the yolk, which is the most remote element of the egg and its equally dense vitelline membrane as well as the somewhat less dense inner albumen. Such is accomplished by applying heat to the internal egg intermittently, whose limitations are governed by the quantity of the heat applied to the whole egg as modified and controlled from the higher rates of heat transfer as found within the least dense element of the egg as represented by the outer albumen. For ease of understanding, the lesser density of the outer albumen requires only intermittent application or denial of heat to accomplish targeted temperature changes. By using the outer albumen's highest speed in heat gain or loss over those of the other elements contained within chicken eggs that speed provides for the outer albumen achieving temperature changes together with targeted log achievements more swiftly than do other elements of the chicken egg. Through the use of intermittent but controlled durations of a unique method of the application of heat and denial of heat, the new protocol enables applications of heat in greater total quantities, which in turn enables higher log reduction of targeted pathogens without damage to either the raw characteristics of the chicken eggs or a reduction in their nutritional values. At the same time, the new protocol provides total inactivation never before achieved of viruses and bacteria requiring up to or exceeding 12-logs, as measured by Se, which under current science enables inactivation of all strains of either viruses or salmonella bacteria as currently found or likely to become found within chicken eggs.

(80) When performed by one reasonably skilled in the art, the monitoring of the denser vitelline membrane and yolk together with environmental factors which influence pasteurization in general, from impact by such extraneous factors including but not limited to altitude, egg water content and egg size along with the targeted pathogens to be inactivated, produce results which can be factored into an equation employing intermittent applications of heat to the subject eggs in a manner previously referred to as the cyclical application of heat and its denial. Whether pasteurization is performed through a formula employing either purified air or purified water, adjustments to the formula in relation to time and temperature will be required, as applied to their respective rates of flow. These rates of flow will be adjusted to accommodate not only the rates of flow of both water or air, as employed to accommodate their individual densities which impact upon their rates and quantities of heat or chilling transfer due to their differing compositions both separately and comparatively, together with their end impacts upon the rates of heat or chilling transfers due to differing in-shell egg sizes, which in the end collectively enable the specific characteristics of the batch of in-shell chicken eggs being processed to achieve total inactivation of targeted pathogens without inconsistencies of consequence to the end product. In the end, the targeted and never before achieved log levels enabling the destruction or inactivation of both salmonella and the more heat-resistant strains of viruses now threatening to cause a pandemic can be totally inactivated without consequential loss of raw egg characteristics by the targeted chicken eggs due to their varying sizes and differing rates of heat and chilling transfer.

(81) The second of the above mentioned two primary areas of inventiveness involves the employment of the pasteurization protocol within a protected environment provided by the pasteurization medium, whose benefits provide security from risks of either incomplete inactivation of pathogens or recontamination which when achieved together provides certainty that no statistical risk of illness of consequence from either viral or bacterial contaminants as found or may come to be found within chicken eggs will occur.

(82) As a result of the two above described areas of primary inventiveness, consisting of the cyclical application of heat and the medium within which it is employed, when employed in tandem such provides the public with the benefits from not only the newfound safety from illnesses traditionally caused by eggs which are reported to be the leading cause of foodborne illnesses but also provides the public with the benefits from the subject eggs retaining nutritional, functional and aesthetic characteristics as found within their pre-pasteurization raw states. Further, the new art not only accomplishes the achievement of the retention of raw egg aesthetics and nutritional features post-pasteurization through employing ingredients of the new art claimed, which includes the use of fluctuating temperatures as applied to the internal ingredients of the subject eggs as is made available through the intermittent and alternating applications of both heat and induced chilling together with the timing of programmed applications and denials as described in greater detail herein before. Said new art also enables the statistical inactivation not only of all deviations of all strains of salmonella, as found within chicken eggs, but also enables through its unique ability to provide flexibility to the levels of heat exposures and cooling exposures to provide for the benefits to be gained from total destruction of viruses which require materially greater levels of heat for their destruction than do the most heat-resilient stains of salmonella bacteria. Further, the new art in the second of its two parts, as described earlier, provides for a unique pasteurization medium within which the environment is secured from external contamination. Such enables prevention from recontamination and to allow for the total inactivation of pathogens as found within chicken eggs to occur. Those critical benefits are enabled through the flexibility of the cyclical pasteurization protocol employed together with the benefits provided from the achievement of log levels required for the inactivation of the targeted pathogens to be complete and without risk of either residual contaminants being present or inadequate pasteurization to have occurred.

(83) Notably and of significant distinguishing importance over prior art, the new art not only provides for satisfaction of deficiencies to current pasteurization protocols employed, as found within both in-shell chicken eggs and liquid whole egg product, which as acknowledged through Government agency reports, together with interpretations of studies performed by the scientific community, confirm that a 5-log protocol for Salmonella inactivation limited to Se is inadequate to provide public health protection against known to be highly salmonella contaminated chicken eggs giving cause to illnesses whether from in-shell chicken eggs or from their conversion into liquid product forms. A more appropriate log reduction of all strains of salmonella, when considered together, is confirmed through science to be 10-logs to achieve salmonella inactivation. Some would argue that a 5-log level of inactivation of salmonella as identified to be Se would inactivate reasonable deviations in levels of contamination as found within a contaminated chicken egg for a period of time post lay, which would not negatively impact upon public health. That argument would be furthered by reliance upon deep chilling occurring from time of lay through time of consumption. Unfortunately, the reality of promptly achieving and maintaining deep chilling without interruption from farm-to-table as is practiced in the United States and within selected other countries is dangerous to rely upon to avoid the speed within which salmonella multiplies into both sickening or lethal quantities. As one example, one cell in one egg in a non-refrigerated but normal room temperature environment within forty days of lay may achieve a cell count of one trillion cells. At that level which approximates the same timeframe as the date of lay together with the timeframe to packaging and the Best By date displayed on egg cartons combined with the risk from salmonella food poisoning to the public at large is significant. Such is enhanced by interrupted refrigeration from farm to table, the known and authorized inclusion of substandard eggs containing high levels of salmonella contamination into liquid egg product employing an equally substandard level of pasteurization of 5-logs as measured by Se, the co-mingling of Grade B eggs into Grade A cartons, the repackaging of stale eggs into new cartons containing new Best By dates when considered together create in part the reason why chicken eggs whether pasteurized or not remain to be the leading cause of foodborne illness in the United States. Such result is furthered by the vulnerability of some 150.0 million persons identified by the Government as being members of high risk groups which on average consume a minimum of 15 dozen chicken eggs annually. As discussed herein elsewhere, eggs known-to-be highly contaminated are allowed to be contained within co-mingled liquid egg product as one illustration of reckless oversight. That enablement is provided under the Egg Safety Rule of 2009 as sponsored by the US-FDA. Eggs identified to be of Grade B standard are allowed to be co-mingled with Grade A labeling. Eggs provided to food service do not employ Best By dates. Those recited common practices are only a few of several which together in part provides an answer to why chicken eggs consistently for decades have been the annual single most source of food borne illnesses.

(84) In the instance of new strains of viruses, such carry with them a new and unique public threat not previously experienced from chicken eggs as is found under the H5N1 virus with its potential ability to transfer serious and frequent fatal illnesses from human-to-human or at the least give cause to serious illnesses through consumption of eggs containing the H5N1. Those underlying issues have given cause for the scientific community to forecast that the H5N1 through continuing mutations or deviations is a strain of virus which is most likely to give cause for either one of or part of a base viral source to convert into an aggressive viral source which in the end creates the already confirmed arrival of that virus together with potential deviations creating a foundation for millions of illnesses stemming from less than hard-cooked chicken eggs even without its potential furtherance for human to human transfer. The described deficiencies of current chicken egg pasteurization protocols to successfully inactivate salmonella as targeted by Se at a 5-log level of inactivation combined with the greater levels of inactivation over salmonella required to inactivate viral contaminations, when considered together, reconfirm the warnings provided by WHO. These warning indicate that the public at large is exposed to illness from Avian Influenza and the forecasted pandemic resulting from both the virus continuing to evolve and the vaccine development being incomplete due to the continuous evolution of the virus giving cause to what essentially can be described as a moving target. The new art disclosed and discussed herein provides for a unique protocol to be employed to eliminate the threat to public health, as currently found to stem from salmonella primarily but also as already forecasted by the international scientific community, which continues to report that a new and participating source contributing to the magnitude of a potential pandemic has been confirmed to stem from Avian Influenza as enabled through the more heat-resistant viruses now identified to be carried by chickens as illustrated primarily by the H5N1 virus now present and continuing to evolve. Viruses together with their deviations may come to provide for human-to-human transfer of illnesses. Viruses are heat-sensitive but require greater heat than all prior chicken egg pasteurization art can deliver to achieve total inactivation of viruses, as well as all strains and levels of contamination of chicken eggs by salmonella without loss of raw egg characteristics. The new art claimed herein discloses pasteurization to be available against both avian-caused influenza and salmonella-caused illnesses while at the same time retaining the raw characteristics of a chicken egg together with enabling those same eggs to provide a safe food source to a public in need of such. The mentioned new art performs pasteurization preferably through substitution of a treated water bath with a spray of either treated air or treated water at varying densities and velocities within a secured environment.

(85) The new art discussed above enables public protection which is timely. The discussed virus strains which in part will be found within chickens and their eggs as deviations from strains already existing will in the end contribute to a global pandemic in a magnitude comparable to that of the 1918 pandemic as has been reconfirmed by current forecast provided by the World Health Origination. That pandemic killed well in excess of 75 million people. In support of an increase in numbers of casualties resulting from a new pandemic over the casualties estimated as having occurred in the mentioned 1918 pandemic such is influenced by both population growth and ease of spread through current public mobility over that of the 1918 timeframe.

(86) Notably and significantly, reports from mid-2015 and prior as authored by the scientific community including WHO discuss the need for development of a vaccine together with the delays occurring for that development as being caused primarily from the continuing evolution of the virus which may enable not only Avian Influenza to occur but also in material part will create massive contamination to chicken eggs that materially will broaden the scope of the pandemic.

(87) As previously discussed, the threat of a pandemic generated by a virus repeatedly is forecasted by the scientific community as being both in the making and inevitable. Potential evidence of the accuracy of that forecast occurred in the United States in 2009-2010 which was reported publicly a year later in 2011. A new strain of virus having certain similarities to prior viruses identified as a category to be within the Swine Flu species occurred in the United States only with notable lack of publicity as to its scope and devastation. The strain of virus was new but resembled characteristics of those found within the Swine Flu which is not limited to swine. Confirmed reports show that within the Unites States in less than a two-year span i.e. twelve months bridging two years more than 60 million people were sickened and 12,000 persons died. The virus was identified as the H1N1.

(88) Recent scientific studies confirm that a 5-log pasteurization protocol for salmonella more specifically identified as Se as found within chicken eggs is inadequate to inactivate all strains of salmonella as commonly found within chicken eggs. Such inadequacy is confirmed by a host of public health agencies all of which also confirm that salmonella-contaminated chicken eggs gives cause to public illnesses in greater quantities than found to be within any other food group. Such is confirmed by reports from both the USDA Office of Inspector General and from reports from the National Egg Regulatory Officials. Anecdotally but pertinent to reports which in the end impact upon health risks to the public, the selected use of Se as the functioning strain of salmonella as found within chicken eggs was selected primarily because of its believed and somewhat assumed prevalence to be within but not upon the chicken eggs at time of lay resulting from contamination of the ovaries of the laying hens providing for a long-standing estimate of a frequency of 1 egg in 20,000 eggs being contaminated from Se whose location primarily is reported to be within the ovaries of the laying hens. Significantly, little attention has been paid to the long-standing acknowledgment that the H3N1 virus has been found to be present within chicken flocks for decades. In the case of Se when present within laying flocks the subject flocks must be destroyed and their eggs must be either destroyed or pasteurized to the then level of 4-logs or the more current level of 5-logs as measured by Se. The same protocol traditionally has been employed by the USDA and the US-FDA pertaining to chicken flocks producing eggs containing the H3N1 virus for decades. The new art claimed herein inactivates viral contamination of chicken eggs, which require higher levels of inactivation than do those bacterial strains as found within chicken eggs. Notably, for decades prior to 2009 the US-FDA and other agencies of jurisdiction or of interest allowed H3N1-contaminated eggs as well as salmonella-contaminated eggs to be co-mingled or separately converted into liquid egg product and to be provided to the public in liquid egg form while employing a level of pasteurization of 4 logs as specifically measured by Se without regard to higher inactivation levels required by viruses or other more heat resistant strains of salmonella than Se. Further, it was known all along that a 5-log level of inactivation of Se was inadequate to inactivate salmonella at levels known to be frequently achieved within contaminated chicken eggs employed within and subjected to a 4-log pasteurization of liquid egg product which when changed to 5-logs then included in-shell chicken eggs. Further to the above the 5-log level of inactivation was reconfirmed through the US-FDA sponsored Egg Safety Rule of 2009 which finally omitted references to the H3N1 virus but continued to employ a 5-log inactivation level for all strains of salmonella bacteria when numerous specific violations of eggs allowed to be employed for pasteurization had no hope whatsoever of being safe for public consumption unless hard-cooked. Details of those violations already have been stated within this section hereinabove.

(89) Significantly and notably, as a separate area of public misinformation to that of the above-mentioned H3N1 virus being inactivated at 5 logs a similar misrepresentation of reliance upon a 5-log level of inactivation for all salmonella strains also has existed. Those dual misrepresentations have been conveyed to the public as providing eggs safe for consumption within all recipes containing chicken eggs if pasteurized to the mentioned 5-log level of Se when none such safety exists. What now seems obvious is that all chickens are exposed to hen manure as well as rodent manure within their feed prior to the eggs being laid. The internal contraction of the eggs post lay draws in external contaminants which may be either airborne as within a hen house, contact with manure from the hen itself or contact with contaminated air carrying salmonella bacteria of multiple strains which would include but not be limited to Se. Since common practice within the United States employs rinse water to cleanse the eggshells from manure that protocol carries with it the risk of spreading contamination located on the eggshells practically post loss of the natural protective sealant either from the passage of a few days in time or from the rinse water employed that usually is unclean. Hence, no egg in current circulation can be assured to be safe.

(90) All of the above described issues which have been practiced for decades now can be overcome through the benefits provided from the new art claimed herein which achieves total inactivation of both bacterial and viral contamination as may be present within eggs which may be co-mingled with eggs that have escaped contamination. Such provides a remedy to the lack of notice by agencies of jurisdiction to the simple, obvious and logical fact that at time of lay the subject chicken eggs may be internally warmer than the hen house environment which would give cause for the eggs to contract internally and to draw in contaminated moisture being applied to the eggshells or air which too is likely to be contaminated. The problems of contamination of the eggs through contraction as discussed are similar to the issues experienced by prior art employing pasteurization which gave cause to massive quantities of airborne contamination to occur during a brief period made available from the timeframe of the eggs exiting the pasteurization medium through to the time of application of an antibacterial agent being applied to the exposed pores of the subject eggshells which occurred in a matter of approximately three minutes even when countermeasures of an increased negative atmosphere within the pasteurization setting was employed. The new solution contained herein to provide certainty of safety while preserving the nutritional and natural taste of the subject eggs is pasteurization to a log level which provides the needed certainty of inactivation of all pathogens threatening public safety as performed within a medium that provides the subject eggs with protection against recontamination from point of entrance into the medium through to the point of exit from the medium post pasteurization through to consumption. That art now becomes available through the claims recited herein.

(91) Of notable significance to the new level of safety benefits uniquely provided under the new art discussed and claimed herein in significant contradiction to the new discoveries the US-FDA as recently as in 2009 not only confirmed under The Egg Safety Final Rule that co-mingled and so-labeled highly contaminated chicken eggs could be utilized for public consumption without restriction of any nature if pasteurized to a 5-log level of inactivation of Se. Notably, the end product bearing the term PASTEURIZED and not bearing the contents of the Safe Handling Instructions required on raw egg cartons is misleading although it continues to be employed. It is general knowledge that a 5-log inactivation of Se whether for in-shell chicken eggs or within co-mingled liquid egg product under current practices already described has no hope whatsoever of providing reliable safety to replace the need for hard-cooking. The misinformation provided to the public is particularly more noteworthy for the 150.0 million persons contained within risk groups. Material to the risks and inadequacies of the current pasteurization process enabled under the mentioned Rule the inclusion of known to be highly contaminated chicken eggs containing high counts of salmonella already present is allowed. Those already highly contaminated chicken eggs in part result from insufficient or interrupted cold storage, repackaging of unsold product bearing new and more current dates and distribution practices enabling temperature changes which enable inordinate multiplication of salmonella to be present at time of public consumption as either in-shell eggs or converted into pasteurized liquid egg product even when the subject eggs having been exposed to an environment pre-pasteurization enabling salmonella multiplication prior to processing to achieve frequent count levels reaching one billion cells or more even prior to processing and packaging of the subject eggs or converting a pre-dedicated portion of said eggs into liquid egg product pasteurized to a 5-log level of Se inactivation. The levels of contamination described in the end would require a level of pasteurization of Se as measured in logs equating to a minimum of 10 logs in lieu of the described US-FDA requirement of 5 logs as measured by Se to qualify the subject eggs to be labeled as PASTEURIZED and to be represented to the public as safe for consumption when less than hard-cooked.

(92) Thus, under prior art the mentioned inactivated contaminants post-pasteurization to the 5-log level of Se inactivation were enabled to rapidly multiply in the absence of immediate and continuous induced chilling whose purpose only is to retard the mentioned multiplication that in practice neither inactivates nor destroys the targeted viruses or bacteria. Even were the minimizing of the multiplication rate through prompt chilling to occur the time lag to deep chill stacked eggs provides adequate time for higher levels of pre-contamination to become potentially lethal to high risk groups even were the eggs to achieve uninterrupted deep chilling from the initial application of the chilling through to table. In support of the unreliability of continuous and uninterrupted deep chilling from farm to table the national distribution system for chicken eggs when considered together with interrupted transportation and storage caused by time and distance together with breakdowns and delays from weather conditions collectively contribute to a level of risk of illness not utilized as part of the protocol for safety provided from continuous and prompt deep chilling as performed in a laboratory setting.

(93) The above-described circumstances outline the public health risks caused by the inordinate speed of multiplication by pathogens including salmonella with the resulting achievement of becoming lethal through their increased count in a matter of days only. Certain Government agencies have reported that immediate and continuous deep chilling from farm to table will avoid multiplication of salmonella into lethal quantities. That described protocol employing refrigeration is disqualified on its face. It is impossible to perform with reliable consistency deep and uninterrupted refrigeration from farm to table as required under a Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point's (HACCP) plan relying upon the described deep refrigeration when nonesuch is feasible or reliable in practice from date of lay through date of consumption. That reliance is known to be false but continues to be allowed through the mislabeling of product which provides for misplaced product confidence at the expense of at minimum 150.0 million persons within the United States identified as having compromised immune systems who have relied upon the implied safety provided by the term PASTEURIZED as found upon liquid egg product cartons and the USDA Shield as provided upon raw in-shell chicken egg cartons which on their face provides implied safety from bad food while at the same time the same agencies of jurisdiction have known full well that chicken eggs rank as the leading cause of illnesses annually over all food groups. That long-lasting statistic considered together with the obviousness that a 5-log level of pasteurization of already highly contaminated chicken eggs co-mingled as allowed with lesser contaminated eggs but labeled to be Grade AA and Grade A or allowed to be repackaged into new cartons containing new dates which are untrue in combination give cause to a public health cost from chicken eggs which when resolved through pasteurization achieving safe levels would provide for a public savings in costs of illnesses equating to the national debt each year i.e. $20.0 trillion annually.

(94) Notably, the arrival of viral contamination within chicken eggs, at best, has been rare and when previously mentioned has been limited to the H3N1 virus. In those references to the H3N1 virus the same level of destruction or inactivation was employed through pasteurization of liquid egg product equating to 4 logs using Se (bacteria) as the baseline of measure until 2009 when the level of inactivation was raised to 5 logs as applied to Se. It is obvious to the scientific community that the inactivation of a virus requires either greater heat as measured in temperature or longer terms of heat at lower temperatures than does salmonella. The H3N1 virus for decades erroneously was treated as having the same heat tolerance as Se which in turn was not the most heat-resistant salmonella strain found within chicken eggs. The reported error regarding the H3N1 virus and the inadequacies concerning log levels for its inactivation clearly have placed the public health at risk. To compound the problem recited disagreements on inactivation requirements through pasteurization between agencies of jurisdiction have occurred resulting from misinformation concerning risks and differing information concerning the avoidance of risks. No study supports the long-standing position by agencies of authority that the virus identified as the H3N1 was inactivated at the same level as a 5-log inactivation employing Se as the measure when in fact viruses long since have been known to require the earlier-reported ratio which in the end confirms that the H3N1 inactivation of 5 logs required an Se inactivation of 6- to 7-logs. That error has exposed millions of the egg-consuming public to risks of illness from the H3N1 virus that prior to pasteurization of in-shell chicken eggs had no protective measure whatsoever for the consuming public.

(95) In 2014 WHO continued to acknowledge that a pandemic generated from an Avian Influenza viral source since referred to as the Bird Flu was in the making. The only question left open was when such would occur and not whether such would occur.

(96) Notably to the above-referenced forecast by WHO that the contamination of chicken meat by two new virus strains has been reported by a leading United States supplier on two occasions in October of 2013. The press releases disclosed that Tyson Foods, one of the nation's largest chicken meat providers, had destroyed flocks containing the H7N7 virus. Those reports confirmed the very recent arrival of the virus into the chicken food chain. It also confirmed that the same virus only recently had traveled from Asia to the United States. Logic dictates that contaminated chicken eggs and the pandemic as recently forecasted by WHO and referenced as the Bird Flu may be only one mutation away from occurring. Such is confirmed through prior statements discussed hereinabove which report that the U.S. agency identified as the HHS has contracted with a French-based firm to develop a vaccine in anticipation of the so-called Bird Flu. The contract size involves $150 million for the research and development program.

(97) The new art described and claimed herein for chicken egg pasteurization protocol uniquely provides for a secured environment which hereinbefore has been referred to as the medium. The medium prevents recontamination to which all prior art concerning in-shell chicken egg pasteurization failed to accomplish. Under certain protocols contained within prior art the in-shell eggs exited the pasteurization medium and promptly began internal contraction during ambient cooling. Between the time of exit from the prior pasteurization mediums employed to the time that an antibacterial agent was applied to the exposed eggshells post-pasteurization as followed by an insufficient coverage of the eggshell provided by a protective sealant as performed under prior art, the eggs experienced not only recontamination but greater quantities of eggs became contaminated as a result of the process both being incomplete in its level of inactivation of salmonella but also through deficiencies of the protocol employed being absent of protection against airborne recontamination. The mentioned airborne recontamination resulted from the inordinate quantity of shell eggs being pasteurized concurrently and effectively exhaling through the shell pores the contamination contained within each contaminated chicken egg. When the subject eggs had been pasteurized to the targeted log level and were exited from the medium i.e. water bath the subject eggs began contracting. That created an air current caused by the en masse contractions which overcame the negative atmosphere provided for the pasteurization facility. The result made inapplicable the long-standing statistic that only 1 egg in an estimated 20,000 eggs was Se-contaminated by infected ovaries prior to pasteurization, but all eggs post-pasteurization were placed at risk of airborne salmonella contamination relocating on each eggshell for reason that the current created by the mass of eggs contracting overcame the negative atmosphere of the room within which the pasteurization occurred. Such not only nullified the benefits of pasteurization but also increased the quantity of eggs contaminated.

(98) The new art contains protocol which not only solves the above-recited issues of inadequate pasteurization and recontamination as applied to salmonella presence within pasteurized in-shell chicken eggs, but also provides protection against both the more dangerous and virulent influenza strains as well as inactivating salmonella at log levels greater than 5 as measured by Se to that of 10 logs, which conforms with the original levels of inactivation of Se for liquid egg product as set by the USDA originally. Further to the above, the new protocol achieves inactivation of viruses, which equates to an additional 1.5 to 2 logs over that which inactivates salmonella in strains, which have higher tolerance to heat than does Se also as confirmed by USDA scientists. Such is enabled by the cyclical application of heat and its denial as described in greater detail hereinbefore. With reference to what has been stated before, which more briefly described is that an important and new feature of the new art claimed herein enables for the first time egg pasteurization to achieve total inactivation of all salmonella strains, as well as strains of influenza expected to arrive and to contaminate chicken eggs are enabled through the achievement of log levels which limited all prior art to levels of achievement which were inadequate to provide total inactivation without damage to the raw characteristics and nutritional benefits of the subject eggs. The inadequacy essentially was covered up to the public by allowing a 5-log level of inactivation to be endorsed as being effective in the elimination of salmonella from chicken eggs which was known or should have been known to be not only false but dangerous to the consuming public. In principle and in practice the cyclical feature of employing heat and its denial as detailed elsewhere herein as being a feature of the new art described and claimed is expandable for higher log level achievements or may be employed for inactivation solely of salmonella as the situation present may warrant which in all cases can be performed to not only provide for total inactivation of the targeted pathogen but also enables the retention of both nutritional and raw characteristics.

(99) In conclusion, when the described new art of pasteurization is performed and has achieved total inactivation of pathogens without negating raw egg characteristics, as enabled through utilizing the new protocols made available and performed within the described environmentally-safe medium, the successful achievements of an end product will consist of pasteurized eggs statistically free of both viral and bacterial contaminants while at the same time preserving the nutritional, aesthetic and functional qualities of a raw chicken egg. No prior art for chicken egg pasteurization has met those standards on a commercial scale.

(100) Notably the described features under the new art as recited when performed together enable higher and needed levels of pasteurization to be available for the total inactivation of pathogens, which include but are not limited to viral contaminants and salmonella bacteria as may be found to be present or forecasted to become found within chicken eggs. That described total inactivation results from new discoveries which enable the elimination of either or both underpasteurization or recontamination, as found within current pasteurization protocols whether for in-shell chicken eggs or liquid egg products. Such is accomplished through the uniquely interrupted application of heat and the equally unique interruptions of induced chilling both of which are performed within a novel pasteurization medium, whose unique specifications contain features which enable the described secured and sanitary environment for pasteurization. The combined benefits made available through the features of the areas of new inventiveness, each of which contain elements that are unique unto themselves, provide for a statistical certainty of safety to the public from the consumption of contaminated chicken eggs. Such contaminated eggs currently cause salmonella food poisoning together with similar safety from new threats to public health caused by viral contamination whose potential for lethal illnesses resulting from its evolution and greater resistance to heat inactivation already has been confirmed by the scientific community at large. The described threats from either or both viruses and salmonella, whether in combination or separately, provide for large quantities of illnesses which in the end support the forecast of a pandemic occurring. Unlike prior pasteurization protocols, which place the public health at risk, the new art includes the benefit of certainty against contamination or recontamination of chicken eggs as provided by the secured medium within which the new art enabling total inactivation of targeted pathogens is performed absent of risk or compromise to the purity achieved. Such is enabled by both the safe environment of the mentioned medium and the log levels of inactivation achieved for the targeted pathogens while maintaining the nutritional and functional qualities of a raw chicken egg whether its end use is for in-shell recipes or versions of liquid egg product. The collective art in its preferred form as employed is unique from all known prior protocol and their specifications.

(101) The protocol claimed and described herein provides for options which include but are not limited to in the first instance an option which is not the preferred option that consists of one tank containing a food-grade sanitizer within water which in its utilization provides for rinsing and sanitizing in-shell eggs prior to entering the secured environment of the pasteurization medium. A second option is to replace the external tank containing treated water with an external shower also containing a food-grade antibacterial agent, which performs the same function as described for the first option employing a bath but provides for the application of a heated spray of water containing an antibacterial agent to pre-sanitize the eggshells prior to their transfer from the external application of the mentioned shower into the pasteurization medium. That described spray of water employed prior to the subject eggs being transferred from outside the pasteurization medium into a location within the pasteurization medium is the preferred protocol to be employed. That protocol employing prescribed and sanitized heated water in the form of a spray outside of the pasteurization medium may be substituted with an application of purified air which has been found to be of equal effectiveness to a spray of water when modified accordingly. The employment of the mentioned spray of purified air in lieu of purified water both employing food-grade additives would satisfy jurisdictions restricting the use of water being applied to eggshells in their raw state. Under all circumstances the subject eggs upon entry into the secured environment of the pasteurization medium will receive a spray of sanitized water to provide additional cleansing of the eggshells, as enabled by the sanitized water being heated to a temperature higher than the subject in-shell chicken eggs but below 128 F. which is the temperature recognized to represent commencement of pasteurization. The shower employed may include in its composition either purified water or purified air at controlled temperatures which are preprogrammed to accommodate the specific characteristics of the subject chicken eggs being processed through an automated program adjusted accordingly.

(102) Post receipt of the above-described treatment of the eggs to protect against external and perimeter invasion of pathogens gaining access through potentially exposed eggshell pores together with those pathogens which may be located between the shells and the eggs' outer membranes, the subject eggs upon entry into the pasteurization medium are subjected to an increase of temperature to achieve the preferred initial internal targeted temperature for pasteurization of 132.5 F., which may be adjusted to reflect the needs peculiar to the raw chicken eggs selected as more fully discussed herein before. That targeted temperature is a preferred temperature that also is subject to adjustment based upon a series of factors concerning variances within eggs or the environment within which pasteurization is employed as has been more fully discussed hereinbefore. For better understanding the protocols for the employment of new inventiveness enabling the statistically complete inactivation of more aggressive and heat-resistant viral pathogens over those of salmonella bacteria is a unique feature of the new art which provides for a selection of options discussed hereinbefore from which the processor selects.

(103) Once the subject eggs have been transferred within their customized stacked flats post having received the preferred external rinse containing heated water treated with a food-grade antibacterial agent and having been transferred into the protected environment of the pasteurization medium the pasteurization protocol can be commenced within the secured environment of the medium which contains continuous protocol for maintaining the purity of that environment as discussed in this section previously. The pasteurization protocol employed as also discussed within this section earlier provides for applications of heat and its denial which in the end through adjustments automatically programmed enables the total inactivation of targeted pathogens through the described intermittent application of heat, its denial and the intermittent application of induced chilling which in practice is performed repeatedly until the targeted pathogen statistically has been inactivated but in a manner which preserves its raw aesthetic appearance, its nutritional benefits and its functional characteristics as likened to those of a raw in-shell chicken egg.

(104) While the foregoing disclosure shows illustrative embodiments of the invention, it should be noted that various changes and modifications could be made herein without departing from the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. The functions, steps and/or actions of the method claims in accordance with the embodiments of the invention described herein need not be performed in any particular order. Furthermore, although elements of the invention may be described or claimed in the singular, the plural is contemplated unless limitation to the singular is explicitly stated.