Can little curd tortilla be served in bars and restaurants?

Salmonellosis is the most popular foodborne disease.

It is not surprising, because for many years it was the one with the highest incidence in Spain and in the rest of the European Union.

This gave rise to the launch of prevention campaigns, especially during the 1980-1990s.

With them, it was possible to inform a large part of the population about the relationship of this disease with the egg and to raise awareness about the risks posed by preparations where this food was used raw or undercooked, such as homemade mayonnaise or slightly curdled tortillas. , which causes some people rejection and distrust, among other things due to the risk of salmonellosis.

Today, the information is greater and the regulations are stricter, but scares continue to arise.

The latest example is found in a bar in the center of Madrid, where an outbreak of salmonellosis has originated that has affected at least 40 people, presumably due to the consumption of potato tortillas that are not curdled and contaminated with this bacterium.

And a few days ago, a sentence was handed down against the cook of a bar in Cádiz, responsible for an outbreak of salmonellosis that in 2016 made 165 people sick after consuming potato tortillas contaminated by having been cooked in poor hygienic conditions and remaining at room temperature. during hours.

The 1991 regulations required establishments where meals are served, such as bars or restaurants, to use pasteurized egg products.

These are sold in many formats, but the most widely used is the pasteurized liquid egg, which we colloquially know as "huevina".

This is simply beaten egg that has been subjected to a mild heat treatment (for example 64ºC-65ºC for 120-240 seconds) to eliminate the presence of

while preventing heat coagulation, which occurs at around 68ºC.

Relaxation of demands

This obligation is what has led many people today to be convinced that fresh eggs cannot be used for cooking in catering.

But the measure indicated in that legislation included an important nuance and that is that the use of pasteurized egg products was only mandatory in the event that the food was not subjected to a heat treatment of 75ºC or more in the center of the same.

In other words, these establishments could use fresh eggs to make well-curdled tortillas, but they could not use them to make fried eggs with a runny yolk (the yolk curdles at around 65ºC-70ºC) or for slightly curdled tortillas.

The measure was strictly adhered to in places of special risk, such as community kitchens (hospitals, schools, residences, etc.), where "huevina" is usually used to make tortillas and fried eggs are grilled with the yolk completely curdled.

And the same thing happened in many bars and restaurants, which chose to use egg products or to curdle fresh eggs well.

But in many other establishments, fried eggs with the yolk not curdled and slightly curdled omelettes made with fresh eggs were served, which was a breach of the legislation.

That is why many people wondered why these practices were allowed, which in addition to not complying with the regulations, seemed to pose a health risk.

What happened in many of these cases is that the requirements were relaxed, which can be explained for several reasons.

One of them is cultural.

In food, it is not only necessary to consider nutritional or food safety aspects, but also many others, such as gastronomy.

For example, there are places, such as Betanzos (Galicia), where the little curd potato omelette is a cultural heritage.

And the same happens with the fried egg throughout the Spanish geography, where one of the most appreciated characteristics is that it has a slightly curdled yolk to be able to dip bread.

Of course, this does not mean that these aspects must be prioritized at the expense of food safety.

This brings us to the other reasons that explain the lax compliance with the regulations that existed in some cases.

An updated regulation

With this panorama, many people demanded a change in the regulations, among them, many belonging to sectors such as hospitality, poultry production and even food safety.

Once the situation was studied by the AESAN Scientific Committee, a new regulation was published last December that adapts to the current reality.

In this way, some nuances are introduced that mark notable differences with respect to the previous legislation, already repealed.

This means that establishments can currently use raw egg to make food:

• That they undergo a heat treatment where a temperature equal to or greater than 70ºC is reached for two seconds in the center of the product, or any other combination of time and temperature conditions with which an equivalent effect is obtained.

• That they undergo a heat treatment where a temperature of 63ºC is reached for twenty seconds in the center of the product and that they are served for immediate consumption, such as fried eggs, tortillas or other preparations.

In other words, the legislation already allows serving fried eggs with the yolk not curdled and undercooked potato tortillas, yes, provided that the above conditions are met.

Other important measures

It is essential to always keep in mind that a measure by itself does not guarantee the safety of food.

In other words, cooking a slightly curdled tortilla at a temperature of 63ºC for twenty seconds does not ensure its safety if other conditions are not met.

And the same can be said in the case of tortillas that are completely curdled or even those that are made with "huevina".

For example, cooking an omelette with dirty hands and utensils and leaving it at room temperature for hours is not the same as cooking it with clean hands and utensils and serving it immediately.

In the first case, the risk is much higher because the food can be contaminated with salmonella, not only from the dirt on the egg shell, but also from other sources, such as our hands (the bacteria can also be present). in our intestinal tract).

Also, if we leave the food at room temperature, salmonella can multiply rapidly (it can double in number every 15 minutes).

Failure to comply with measures of this type explains to a large extent that salmonellosis outbreaks continue to occur, despite the fact that the level of food safety has improved significantly compared to previous decades.

In fact, salmonellosis ranks second in incidence in the EU (60,000 cases in 2021), behind campylobacteriosis (almost 128,000 cases), and it is still mainly associated with eggs (although that does not mean that it cannot be found in other foods, even those of vegetable origin).

The basic handling measures to ensure food safety are few and simple, but very important:

• wash hands and utensils

• separate raw and dirty foods from those that are already clean and ready to eat,

• sufficiently cook food,

• store them at refrigerated temperatures and

• respect the duration dates.

• It is also important that especially vulnerable people (pregnant women, young children, immunocompromised people, the elderly, etc.) avoid eating foods made with raw or undercooked eggs.

The panorama has changed radically since 1991, when the regulation that we have just discussed came into force, and for this reason some of its indications were a bit outdated and needed updating.

decades of improvements

To get an idea of ​​the important changes that have taken place in terms of food security, we can go back to the end of the 1990s. At that time there were several food crises, such as the mad cow crisis, which led to important measures that They represented a paradigm shift.

For example, organizations such as the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) or the Spanish Agency for Food Safety and Nutrition (AESAN) were created, which are in charge of guaranteeing food safety and were founded in 2002 and 2001, respectively.

In addition, an integrated approach to achieving food safety was developed, covering all sectors of the food chain “from farm to fork”: feed production, primary production, food processing, transport,

Unlike what happened in the past, currently the economic operators, in this case bars, restaurants, etc.

They are primarily responsible for the food safety of the products they sell and must comply with a series of obligations, such as having a food safety management system.

This includes a prerequisite plan that establishes the right conditions to produce safe food;

for example, having a cleaning and disinfection plan, with another for waste management, etc.

In addition, the people in charge of handling food must have training in food safety for this purpose.

The landscape has also changed a lot when it comes to animal production.

For example, today the safety of feed is controlled and more exhaustive health controls are carried out on animals, which in the case of laying hens include vaccination against salmonella.

This bacterium may be present in your intestinal tract, which explains why it is associated with eggs.

In summary, all these changes produced during the last decades have made possible a context with a higher level of food security.

NUTRITION WITH SCIENCE

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