Purchase, storage, and preparation of eggs and poultry in selected European countries

Abstract

Purpose – Foodborne illnesses are often related to raw and cooked poultry and meat, eggs, and their products. Consumer practices related to these foods have been studied in many countries, however, little comparison has been made among different countries. The purpose of this paper is to characterize consumers’ purchase, storage, handling, and preparation of poultry products and eggs in four European countries: Russia, Estonia, Italy, and Spain. Design/methodology/approach – Approximately 100 selected consumers in each location completed a questionnaire that included sections about poultry products and eggs purchase temperatures and locations, storage locations such as refrigerator, freezer, or cabinet, and preparation such as washing eggs and poultry before cooking, and the use of cutting boards. Findings – Although educating consumers in European countries is common, some food safety aspects may need to be additionally addressed. The results indicated differences in purchase and storage practices of raw eggs. In Russia and Estonia consumers who participated in the study purchased both refrigerated and room temperature eggs whereas in Italy (84 percent) and Spain (87 percent) eggs typically were purchased at room temperature. However, almost all consumers in all countries stored eggs in the refrigerator. In Russia 70 percent of the consumers who participated in the study immediately froze raw meat, poultry, or seafood after purchase; while in other countries about a quarter of the consumers froze the raw meat. Research limitations/implications – This research was limited by the number of respondents in each country that does not allow extrapolation of results. Originality/value – Food preparation practices revealed behavior that supports cross-contamination during cooking, such as washing raw poultry and eggs. A uniform approach to food safety practices related research, such as presented in this study, would help define overlapping critical points in consumer behavior and create educational messages based on the information gathered.

Consumer practices for purchase, storage, and preparation of poultry and eggs in selected north and south american countries: a pilot study

“…Total of 17 and 20% of consumers purchased eggs from the farmer directly or raised their own chickens in Colombia and Argentina, respectively. Similar practices have been observed in Italy and Spain (18). These findings are important considering recent data from the USA showing that poultry products purchased at farmers' markets had higher levels of bacteria such as Salmonella and Campylobacter when compared to those purchased from supermarkets (20).…”

“…Eggs usually were refrigerated in the USA at the time of purchase, and similar practices have been observed in Estonia (18) and Korea (17). Eggs during purchase were at room temperature in Colombia and Argentina, as well as in India (17), Italy and Spain (18).…”

“…Purchasing fresh eggs from a farmer's market has not been found common in selected Asian countries (17) or in selected European countries, either (18). Total of 17 and 20% of consumers purchased eggs from the farmer directly or raised their own chickens in Colombia and Argentina, respectively.…”

“…Those authors found that considerable differences exist among Asian countries consumer practices. Furthermore, practices in selected European countries have been studies by Koppel, Timberg, Shalimov, Vazquez-Araujo, CarbonellBarracchina, Di Donfrancesco, and Chambers (18).…”

Effects of Dietary Lycopene or Tomato Paste on Laying Performance and Serum Lipids in Laying Hens and on Malondialdehyde Content in Egg Yolk upon Storage

“…In this study, we further explored whether dietary LP or TP could affect lipid peroxidation of eggs under longterm storage conditions. However, it should be noted that our study is not intended to propagate the storage of raw eggs at room temperature, although consumers in Asian (Koppel et al, 2014) or European (Koppel et al, 2015) countries might buy eggs stored at room temperature from various sources such as farmers, local markets, or stores. It has been reported that egg quality influences consumer acceptance and this decreases as the storage time at room temperature increases (Liu et al, 2017).…”