The national organizations of egg producers from Spain, Hungary and Portugal (INPROVO, Baromfi Termék Tanács and ANAPO) together with SMEs in the egg sector and research centers are to co-operate on EU-funded project OVOSHINE.

For the next 3 years engineers and scientists at Fraunhofer IGB from Germany, Ateknea Solutions from Spain and Nofima form Norway will work together in developing a system to increase the hygiene of eggshells. Based in hot air and UV lamps (a non-invasive and non-chemical technology) the idea is to treat the entire eggshell surface with a highly energetic UV light that will eliminate germs.

The project has been welcomed by the egg sector industry, most of them small and medium-sized companies that are aware of the relevance of food safety control and the challenge in improving confidence (market/consumer) in basic foods such as eggs.

When the first prototype is built and running, the new system will be tested in the premises of some of the OVOSHINE consortium members. The goal is to have an effective, non-expensive and innovative treatment for the eggshell that is easy to implement (a new module to their existing equipment) for the end users.

To ensure the success of the OVOSHINE project, four private technology-based companies are participating as members to provide expertise and input related to existing systems, industry needs and technology. The members are: Ovobel (based in Belgium); Daro (in the UK), Ibertec and El Canto Agroalimentaria (both in Spain). The EU’s Research Executive Agency has funded project OVOSHINE with 2 Million euros over the 3-year period for research, testing and dissemination.

OVOSHINE has been co-funded by the Seventh Framework Programme for research and technological development of the European Union. Grant Agreement nº 605309.