Quality is one of the characteristics that Shinoda Group considers essential in its processes. In order to understand how we obtain the pasteurized liquid egg and the dehydrated egg, we have to know the whole process, from the raw material to the pasteurization and drying.
Feedstock
Eggs from their own or third farm, with a maximum of 5 days of laying, are washed before breaking to prevent contamination of the liquid egg by microorganisms present in the eggshell. Washing is done on suitable machines with chlorinated water.
Ovoscopy
After washing, the eggs are selected by ovoscopy, which consists of checking the quality of the inner part of the eggs by passing light. In ovoscopy, dirty, cracked, bloodstained and spoiled (decayed) eggs are removed. Although the eggs are fresh and most come from their own chicken farm, the
Ovoscopy is important as it is yet another quality safety process. After ovoscopy, the eggs are sanitized with chlorinated solution.
Break and Separation
The eggs are broken in a separate environment from the washing and sorting room by automatic machines that separate the yolk from the egg white. In the machines, there is inspection in practically 100% of the eggs, made by the operators.
Filtering
After breaking and separation, the eggs are filtered to remove calazas or slings, membranes and pieces of shell.
Cooling
After filtering, the egg is cooled in plate heat exchangers.
Mixing Tank
In this phase of the process occurs the standardization of products. Solids percentages are adjusted to customer specification.
Pasteurization
To ensure the quality of the liquid egg, after the removal of the shell, we must submit it to the pasteurization process. This process begins shortly after standardization. Pasteurization is understood to be the convenient use of heat for the purpose of destroying or reducing to acceptable levels microorganisms, pathogenic or not, without appreciably altering the physical constitution of the egg or parts thereof. The efficiency of pasteurization depends first of all on the quality of the raw material used. Pasteurization of eggs is done in a plate heat exchanger, being similar to that used in the process of milk pasteurization, differing only in the temperature and retention time employed.
Packing and Storage
After pasteurization, the products are packaged and stored in a cold chamber for later distribution. In the case of bulk products, they are transferred through pipelines directly to the trailers (refrigerated road tank).
Drying (Dehydration)
The drying process is by spray-drier, in which almost all water is removed without affecting egg quality. The basic principle of spray-drier drying is to spray the liquid egg into the drying chamber through a rotating disc. Egg droplets are dispersed in hot air stream. This procedure results in a large surface area and moisture evaporation is virtually instantaneous. After drying the powder is conveyed by pneumatic transport to a set of cyclones, where the dust is separated from the hot air. The dust is conveyed to the vibrating screen and then packed and the hot air is flushed out of the chimney. In the drying process, it is important to control and monitor the tower inlet and outlet air temperature and product humidity, as well as all equipment cleaning and hygiene.
