Guide · Standards and regulation
Does Ordinance 612 allow electronic candling?
According to MAPA, Ordinance 612 accepts electronic equipment with results equivalent to traditional candling, provided a manual check by a validated sampling system is planned. The rule is in art. 26, § 4º. The company must describe in its self-control programme how often that verification happens, how it is assessed and how it is recorded.
Updated · 3 min read
What does art. 26, § 4º of Ordinance 612 say?
According to MAPA, in its answer to question 34, art. 26, § 4º of Ordinance 612 mentions the use of electronic equipment with results equivalent to traditional candling. The condition is that a manual check by a validated sampling system is planned.
In practice, electronic equipment does not run on its own: the manual check is part of the rule.
What must the self-control programme provide?
According to MAPA, the company must set out in its self-control programme a way of verifying the efficiency of electronic candling. The answer identifies three elements:
- Frequency: how often the verification is carried out.
- Method of assessment: how the result of the verification is assessed.
- Method of recording: how the verification is documented.
What must the verification demonstrate?
According to MAPA, the verification exists to guarantee that the equipment gives an adequate result for judging the shell condition, covering integrity and the presence of dirt, as well as the internal contents of the egg (MAPA, question 34).
That means efficiency is proven on your own flow, with your own eggs, and not simply claimed by the equipment. For the disposal rules that apply after grading, see disposing of dirty cracked eggs.
Does a surface camera count as electronic candling?
A surface camera does not replace candling on its own. Vigiovo, for example, measures dirt and visible cracks on the shell, but does not see the air cell, the yolk, blood spots or hairline cracks.
The company decides whether a system meets the rule, by providing for the verification in its self-control programme and recording the results, as MAPA's answer describes. The full comparison is in candling vs computer vision.
What are the limits of the rule?
This page summarises MAPA's answer to question 34 and does not replace reading Ordinance 612. The answer speaks of equivalent results and of a validated sampling check, but it does not set, in this source, a sample size or a fixed frequency. Those choices belong to the company, within its self-control programme.
For the washing rules that also affect the line, see egg washing rules.
Frequently asked questions
Does electronic candling replace traditional candling?
- According to MAPA, art. 26, § 4º of Ordinance 612 accepts electronic equipment with results equivalent to traditional candling, provided a manual check by a validated sampling system is planned (question 34). Without that planned check, the condition is not met.
What must the self-control programme provide?
- According to MAPA, the frequency of the equipment verification, the method of assessment and the method of recording that verification (question 34). The aim is to make sure the equipment properly assesses shell integrity, dirt and the internal contents.
Is a surface camera electronic candling?
- Not necessarily. The rule covers equipment with results equivalent to traditional candling, and a surface camera does not see the air cell, the yolk, blood spots or hairline cracks. It can complement candling, but it does not replace that verification on its own.
Sources
- Perguntas e respostas sobre a Portaria MAPA nº 612/2022 (versão de 05/06/2023), Ministério da Agricultura e Pecuária (MAPA)
How Vigiovo helps
Vigiovo grades eggs on the conveyor as clean, dirty, cracked or unverified, in real time, with deterministic computer vision: every decision comes with the measurements behind it, on an ordinary CPU.