South Korea lacks protection from cracked eggs

South Korea has no regulations preventing eggs with cracked shells that have not been sterilised into the food chain, according to a report by JoongAng Daily.

Unsterilised cracked eggs have a high risk of bacteria contamination. Furthermore, there are no inspection standards for the amount of bacteria in shell-less eggs that had not gone through a sterilization process, which tests for bacteria and other contaminants. 

According to laws on livestock products and the regulations of the National Veterinary Research and Quarantine Service, eggs only require a clear color, smell and taste to gain approval for use in food products. There are no regulations on bacterial contamination levels.

Egg processing companies said the cost of sterilisation is prohibitive and questions its necessity as the unsterilised egg products had never caused any problems, according to the report.

About one billion eggs out of the 10 billion consumed in South Korea each year are used in food products, and about 500 million are non-sterilised eggs, said the egg industry.