Raw Egg Mayonnaise Food Safety Australia

Raw egg mayonnaise food safety in Australia matters because raw egg products such as house-made mayonnaise and aioli are repeatedly linked to Salmonella outbreaks. Raw or lightly cooked eggs can carry Salmonella, and mayonnaise or aioli made from them provides an ideal environment for bacteria to grow unless the business applies strict controls. Those controls are cold storage at or below 5°C, acidification to lower the pH, careful egg handling, batch records and short, defined disposal times. This article works through the current national raw-egg guidance, safer alternatives, the controls that make raw egg products manageable, and the records that prove you did it properly. Why are raw egg products high risk? Salmonella can be present on the shell of an egg and, in some cases, inside it. When eggs are cracked and blended into a cold sauce that is not cooked, any bacteria present can survive and, if the product sits in the temperature danger zone of 5°C to 60°C, multiply to dangerous levels. Raw egg mayonnaise, aioli, hollandaise held warm, mousses, tiramisu and some dressings all fall into this higher-risk category. Australia's food regulators have produced national guidance specifically because these products cause a disproportionate share of foodborne illness. The national raw egg guidelines set out how businesses can reduce risk when they choose to serve raw egg products, and they are the essential reference for any venue making mayonnaise or aioli from raw egg. What are the safer alternatives to raw egg? The lowest-risk decision is often not to use raw egg at all. Before committing to a raw egg recipe, consider these alternatives, which remove or greatly reduce the hazard: Pasteurised egg: pasteurised whole egg, yolk or liquid egg products have been treated to reduce Salmonella and are widely available to food businesses. Commercially manufactured mayonnaise: shelf-stable commercial mayonnaise is produced under controlled conditions and acidified to be safe. Cooked or acidified recipes: some sauces can be reformulated so the egg is cooked or the product is reliably acidified to a safe pH. Choosing pasteurised egg for house-made mayonnaise keeps the flavour and texture chefs want while removing the main hazard. Where a venue still decides to use raw egg, the controls below become critical. What controls make raw egg mayonnaise safer? If your business makes raw egg mayonnaise or aioli, treat it as a controlled process with defined steps, not a casual recipe. The core controls are cold, acid, hygiene and time. Cold control Keep eggs refrigerated at or below 5°C, make the product in small batches, and return it to refrigeration immediately. Minimise the time the mixture spends in the danger zone during preparation, and never leave mayonnaise or aioli sitting out at room temperature during service. Acidification Adding acid such as lemon juice or vinegar lowers the pH of the product, which slows or prevents the growth of Salmonella. Acidification is only reliable if it is done consistently to a validated recipe, so the same quantities of acid and egg are used every time and the finished pH is low enough. Guessing the acid level does not provide a safe control. Hygiene and egg selection Use only clean, intact, uncracked eggs, discard any that are cracked or dirty, and wash and sanitise hands and equipment before and after handling raw egg. Never use eggs past their best-before date for raw preparations. Disposal timing Raw egg products should be made fresh in small batches and used within a short, defined period rather than kept for days. Label each batch with the date and time it was made and the time it must be discarded. What batch records should you keep? Batch records turn a risky product into a defensible one. If an EHO or an investigation ever asks how you control raw egg mayonnaise, a batch log answers the question. A simple record captures the essentials, as shown below. Batch date/time Product Egg type Acid added to recipe Use-by Made by 08:15 Garlic aioli Pasteurised yolk Lemon juice per recipe Same day AL 09:00 Classic mayonnaise Fresh, intact eggs Vinegar per recipe Same day AL Keeping these production and preparation records in one place, rather than on scattered labels, makes it easy to show consistency batch after batch. Pairing them with your temperature records demonstrates that cold control held throughout. Who is most at risk? Vulnerable customers face the greatest danger from raw egg products. Pregnant women, young children, older adults and people with weakened immune systems are more likely to become seriously ill from Salmonella. Many venues choose not to serve raw egg products to these groups at all, or to use pasteurised egg across the board. If your menu features raw egg dishes, consider how you communicate that to at-risk customers. For further reading, the FSANZ website and your state health department, such as Queensland Health , provide additional egg safety resources aligned with the national guidelines. What does a safe raw egg mayonnaise workflow look like? Turning the controls above into a repeatable routine is what keeps a kitchen safe on a busy Saturday, not just on the day the recipe was first written. A defined workflow means every cook makes the product the same way and nothing depends on memory. The following steps show how a venue can bring cold, acid, hygiene and time together into one process. Prepare the station: sanitise the bench, bowls and whisk, then wash and sanitise your hands before you start. Select the eggs: use only clean, intact eggs within their best-before date, or pasteurised egg for the lowest risk, and discard anything cracked or dirty. Weigh to the recipe: measure egg and acid by the validated recipe rather than by eye, because the acid level is a safety control, not just a seasoning. Make small batches: produce only what a service needs, so the mixture spends the least possible time in the 5°C to 60°C danger zone. Chill immediately: return the finished mayonnaise or aioli to refrigeration at or below 5°C as soon as it is made, and keep it there between uses. Label and time it: mark the batch with the make time and the discard time, and pull it the moment that time is reached. Common mistakes cluster around a few predictable points: topping up an old batch with a fresh one so product never fully turns over, leaving a squeeze bottle of aioli sitting on the line all through service, and changing the recipe quantities without re-checking the acid level. Each of these quietly removes one of the controls that makes the product safe. Building the workflow into a written method, and pairing it with a simple corrective action record so that a failed or forgotten batch is discarded and logged rather than served, gives you a process you can defend to an EHO and repeat every single day. Frequently asked questions Is it legal to serve raw egg mayonnaise in Australia? Yes, but businesses must manage the risk. The national raw egg guidelines set out controls including cold storage at or below 5°C, acidification to a validated recipe, using clean intact eggs, small fresh batches and short disposal times. Many venues reduce risk further by using pasteurised egg. Does adding lemon juice or vinegar make mayonnaise safe? Acidification lowers the pH and slows Salmonella growth, but it is only reliable when done consistently to a validated recipe that achieves a low enough finished pH. Guessing the amount of acid is not a safe control. Acid should be combined with cold storage and good hygiene, not relied on alone. How long can you keep house-made raw egg mayonnaise? Raw egg products should be made fresh in small batches and used within a short, defined period rather than stored for days. Label each batch with its production time and discard time, and keep it refrigerated at or below 5°C the whole time. What is the safest option for making mayonnaise in a restaurant? Using pasteurised egg or a commercially manufactured, acidified mayonnaise is the safest option, because the Salmonella hazard is greatly reduced before the product reaches your kitchen. This lets you serve mayonnaise and aioli with far lower risk than raw shell eggs. Can you top up an old batch of mayonnaise with a fresh one? No. Topping up means the oldest product never fully turns over, so some mayonnaise may sit well past its safe life. Make fresh small batches instead, label each with a make and discard time, use the oldest first and discard rather than combine batches. Raw egg products are defensible only when you can show the controls held every batch. FoodSafety HQ gives Australian kitchens simple digital raw-egg production records that capture the batch, the recipe controls and the use-by time, alongside your cold-storage logs. Explore how it works and start a free trial on our pricing page .