Australia has a problem of egg-born salmonellosis involving both Salmonella Typhimurium and Salmonella Enteritidis.  Over the past decade, under pressure from supermarket chains, the industry has moved to cage-free and free range production increasing the incidence rate of Salmonella infection among consumers.  Eggs are not washed using a chlorine-based sanitizer as in the U.S. and there is no cold chain from the packing through to point of sale.

A research team at Flinders University determined that sous vide heating of eggs to 134 F for nine minutes destroyed Salmonella on the shell surface.  This is not a solution to a widespread problem.  With respect to Salmonella Enteritidis, the causal organism is within the egg and and an internal temperature of 165 F for at least 30 seconds is necessary to destroy the pathogen.  Alternative techniques include infrared treatment of shell eggs is now being adopted in Australia in preference to thermal bath immersion as used in South Korea and the U.S.

If the egg industry and Australia wish to eliminate egg born salmonellosis then a comprehensive program is necessary. In the U.S. this involved elimination from breeding stock, confinement of flocks to barns, a high levels of biosecurity, rodent suppression, solid immunization using available vaccines and frequent swab testing of  manure or litter of flocks to determine that they are not colonized with SE. Surface contamination with various serovars of Salmonella can be eliminated by appropriate washing using commercial equipment and not by immersion on farms.  It is necessary to maintain a cold chain from packing through to point of sale and both institutional and domestic kitchens should use best cooking practices to avoid contamination and to ensure that eggs are cooked before consumption. 

The sous vide approach to reducing shell surface contamination may well be valid, but it is impractical since the nine minute process is inconsistent with either commercial or domestic egg preparation.