Comparative Evaluation of Conventional and Advanced Diagnostic Methods for Microbial Profiling of Table Eggs

Table eggs are widely consumed but may serve as vehicles for foodborne pathogens, particularly under suboptimal hygienic conditions. This study evaluated the microbiological quality of table eggs from different retail sources and compared conventional culture-based identification with advanced diagnostic systems, including MALDI-TOF/MS and VITEK-2. A total of 810 intact table eggs were collected and analyzed as 270 pooled analytical samples for microbial load and pathogen prevalence. Aerobic bacterial counts ranged from 3.94 to 4.88 log CFU/mL on eggshells and 1.90 to 3.93 log CFU/mL in egg contents, with higher contamination generally observed in eggs from informal retail sources. Coliform and fecal coliform counts were also elevated in these samples, indicating poor hygienic handling. Conventional methods detected Escherichia coli (15.2%), Staphylococcus aureus (11.9%), Bacillus spp. (5.2%), Listeria monocytogenes (3.0%), and Salmonella spp. (1.1%). However, confirmation using MALDI-TOF/MS and VITEK-2 reduced these rates to 11.9%, 5.9%, 3.0%, 1.1%, and 0.7%, respectively, revealing a substantial proportion of false-positive identifications. The findings demonstrate that eggs from informal markets pose higher microbiological risks and highlight the limitations of conventional identification methods. The integration of advanced diagnostic platforms significantly improves accuracy and provides more reliable data for food safety surveillance.