HACCP plan for eggs: receiving, cooking, holding and the dishes that use them raw

Eggs are one of the foods most often named in food safety plans because shell eggs can carry Salmonella Enteritidis inside the egg, not just on the shell. A restaurant plan for eggs has five control points: receive and store shell eggs at 45°F or below, cook them to the right temperature for how they are served, hold cooked eggs hot or cold, use pasteurized eggs wherever eggs are raw or lightly cooked, and keep hands and surfaces clean after cracking. This page gives limits, worked rows and a log for a restaurant, cafe or bakery kitchen.

Free logs are on the logs page. Numbers come from the FDA Food Code, FDA and CDC; your health department's adopted version decides, so confirm them before you print the plan.

Do you need a written HACCP plan for eggs?

Most restaurants do not need a separate egg plan filed with the health department. Eggs belong in the general food safety plan as one of the high-risk foods. The Food Code applies the same rules to every kitchen: temperature limits, pasteurized eggs for certain dishes and customers, and clean handling [1]. A written egg section is helpful because the rules differ by dish, and different cooks do the same job in different ways. If you serve a highly susceptible population (a nursing home, a hospital, a preschool), the Food Code is stricter: pasteurized eggs are required for any dish that is not fully cooked, and for pooled eggs held for service.

For the full structure of a plan, see the food safety plan template and the HACCP plan for a restaurant guide.

What can go wrong with eggs

Salmonella can be inside an intact, clean-looking egg. FDA's egg safety rule, aimed at producers, cut the risk, but it did not remove it, and kitchens are the last line of defense [2]. The germ grows fast when eggs or egg mixtures sit warm. CDC counts Salmonella among the leading causes of foodborne illness in the United States, with eggs a recurring source [3].

The flow

1. Receive shell eggs and liquid eggs
2. Store cold, rotate
3. Crack and handle
4. Cook, to order or in batches
5. Hold, hot or cold
6. Cool and reuse hard-boiled eggs
7. Serve, with the consumer advisory where needed

Receiving shell eggs and liquid eggs

Shell eggs must come from an approved source, be graded, clean and uncracked, and arrive at an ambient air temperature of 45°F or below, in a refrigerated truck [1]. Check the carton for the pack date and the sell-by or expiration date. Crack-check by opening the carton and looking; reject cartons with broken or leaking eggs, wet cartons and eggs with visible dirt. Liquid, frozen and dry eggs are sold pasteurized; liquid eggs arrive at 41°F or below. The receiving temperature log guide has the form, and it lists eggs among the exceptions to the 41°F rule.

• Limit: shell eggs at 45°F ambient air or below; liquid eggs 41°F or below; intact, clean shells.
• Monitoring: check the truck or the thermometer in the carton stack; look at every carton.
• Corrective action: reject the cartons that fail, and note the lot and the driver.

Storing eggs

Store shell eggs in the original cartons at 45°F or below, and many kitchens hold them at 41°F with the rest of the cooler so there is one number for staff to learn [1]. Keep them on a shelf below ready-to-eat foods and above poultry if the cooler is shared, because raw eggs are cooked to 145°F, which is lower than poultry. Do not wash shell eggs before storing; washing removes the natural coating and can pull bacteria through the shell. Use first in, first out by the date on the carton. Set a maximum age in the plan, such as 3 to 5 weeks from the pack date (commonly cited, a plan choice and not a Food Code figure); discard past the sell-by date.

Check the cooler with the routine in the walk-in cooler log guide.

Cracking and handling

The mistake that starts most cross-contamination: cracking eggs, touching other food, and moving on. Wash hands after cracking eggs and before touching anything else. Crack into a clean bowl, not on the rim of the pan, and keep shell bits out. Do not crack eggs ahead of time into a bucket unless you have a plan for it (see pooled eggs).

Cooking eggs to order

Eggs that are cooked to order for the customer who ordered them, and served right away, need to reach 145°F in the Food Code [1]. A fried egg with a runny yolk may not get there, which is why it falls under the consumer advisory: the menu must tell the customer that undercooked eggs raise the risk of foodborne illness, and the dish is not served to a highly susceptible population. The usual wording is a line such as "Eggs cooked to order may be undercooked; consuming raw or undercooked eggs may increase your risk of foodborne illness," with an asterisk on the dish. Check your jurisdiction's adopted wording.

• Limit: 145°F for eggs cooked to order and served right away. A fully cooked white and firm yolk reaches it; a runny yolk may not, so the advisory applies.
• Monitoring: spot-check with a probe; train cooks by color and firmness.
• Corrective action: keep cooking.

Batch cooking and pooled eggs

Pooled eggs are shell eggs cracked and combined, as for a pan of scrambled eggs, quiche base, French toast batter or a batch of omelets. Pooling spreads one contaminated egg through the batch. The Food Code rules: cook pooled eggs right after cracking or hold them at 41°F, clean and sanitize the container between batches, and never top up an old batch with fresh eggs [1]. Eggs that are cooked and then held for service, such as scrambled eggs on a buffet or a steam table, must reach 155°F, and then be held at 135°F or above [1]. Use pasteurized liquid eggs for large scrambled batches, because they remove the issue.

• Limit: pooled eggs cooked at once or kept at 41°F; held eggs 155°F when cooked; hot hold at 135°F.
• Monitoring: probe the pan at the end of cooking and again on the line at set times (see the hot holding temperature guide).
• Corrective action: below 135°F: reheat once to 165°F within 2 hours or discard.

Dishes made with raw or lightly cooked eggs

This is the hazard list for the menu. Dishes that use raw or lightly cooked egg, and what the plan says:

• Hollandaise and béarnaise: heat yolks to 145°F during preparation, hold the sauce at 135°F or above, and discard at the end of service; or use a pasteurized yolk product.
• Caesar dressing, aioli, mayonnaise made in house: pasteurized eggs. Acidity helps but does not replace them.
• Mousse, meringue not baked hard, tiramisu, eggnog, ice cream base: pasteurized eggs or a cooked custard base.
• Soft-boiled, poached and sunny-side-up eggs: the consumer advisory on the menu.
• Raw egg on top of a dish (ramen, steak tartare, cocktails with egg white): pasteurized eggs, plus the advisory.

The Food Code requires pasteurized eggs when eggs are substituted for or used in a dish that is not cooked all the way through, and always for highly susceptible populations [1]. Pasteurized shell eggs are sold in some grocery stores; liquid pasteurized eggs are the most common choice. For baked goods that use raw eggs, see the HACCP plan for a bakery guide.

Hard-boiled eggs

A peeled hard-boiled egg is a TCS food: after cooking and peeling, the shell no longer protects it. Cook eggs through (12 to 14 minutes in boiling water for large eggs is typical, a technique rather than a limit), cool quickly in ice water, and refrigerate at 41°F or below. Cooling follows the two-stage rule in the cooling log guide. Peel with clean hands in small batches, store covered and date the container. Many kitchens set a use-by of 7 days from boiling for hard-boiled eggs, in the shell, which matches common consumer guidance, and a shorter life once peeled; put your own limit in the plan.

Worked plan rows for eggs

A daily egg log

Example entries showing how rows read, not records:

Keep records as long as your health department requires; if unsure, a year is a safe default.

Common mistakes

• Making Caesar dressing or aioli with raw shell eggs. Switch to pasteurized.
• Cracking a day's eggs into a bucket in the morning. Pool only what you cook at once.
• Letting scrambled eggs sit on a warm table. Probe it.
• Not washing hands after cracking.
• Washing shell eggs in the sink.
• No advisory on a menu that sells runny eggs.

Questions

What temperature should eggs be stored at?

45°F or below under the Food Code; many kitchens keep them at 41°F with other cold foods.

What temperature should eggs be cooked to?

145°F for eggs cooked to order and served right away; 155°F for eggs that will be held, and 165°F for reheating.

Do I need pasteurized eggs?

For any dish where eggs are raw or lightly cooked and served to a highly susceptible group, and the safe choice for raw sauces and desserts for everyone.

Can I serve sunny-side-up eggs?

Yes to the general public with a consumer advisory on the menu. Not to a highly susceptible population unless you use pasteurized eggs.

Are hard-boiled eggs TCS food?

Peeled ones are. Keep them at 41°F or below.

Where do I get logs?

Use the free sheets on our logs page and add the egg rows from the example above.

Sources

1. FDA Food Code 2022 (3-202.11 receiving, 3-302.13 pooled eggs, 3-401.11 cooking, 3-801.11 pasteurized foods, 3-501.16 holding, 3-603.11 consumer advisory), U.S. Food and Drug Administration
2. Egg Safety Final Rule, U.S. Food and Drug Administration
3. Salmonella, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Related: all food safety guides.