Sous vide style cooking practices linked to Salmonella Enteritidis illnesses

Abstract

Three Salmonella Enteritidis illnesses investigated in British Columbia, Canada, were potentially linked to consumption of sous vide style cooked foods in 2014. In two separate incidents on different days, two illnesses at one restaurant implicated sous vide eggs. The third illness was linked to a different restaurant serving sous vide duck breast. Inspections of the restaurants revealed inadequate sous vide cooking practices that did not fully cook the foods. Although other high-risk foods were also eaten at these premises (raw oysters and tuna in one restaurant, foods with raw egg dressing and mayonnaise in the second restaurant), and although no leftover foods were available for testing from these meals, the investigation suggested improper sous vide style cooking practices amplified the risk and were the most probable cause of illness.