Determination of egg content in pasta

The recent Czech Food Law (Decree No. 264/2003 Col., 93/2000 Col. and 57/2003 Col. of the law No 110/1997 Col. as amended) specifies the requirements for the presence or minimum concentration of egg or egg yolk contents in relevant food products (mayonnaises, egg pastas, egg liqueurs). However, the methods for the determination of egg and/or egg yolk contents are not sufficiently specified. Three methods based on the determination of cholesterol, lysozyme, fatty acids and lipid contents were experimentally validated to evaluate the egg content in egg pasta. The concentration of egg solid in the real egg pasta samples was calculated according to (1) average cholesterol content in the raw material analysed, (2) average lysozyme content in the raw material analysed, and (3) multiple regression equation for 21 model samples with the known egg contents. The comparison of the obtained data with the requirements of Czech legislation revealed that only 12 of 21 analysed samples (52%) and 3 of 13 samples of Czech origin (27%), declared as egg pasta, contained two or more eggs per 1 kg of flour.