ishing you a holiday seasonfilled with your favorite traditions!Your friends at the American Egg Board

& Egg Nutrition Center

December 2011

WWe appreciate your support of ourpromotional efforts in 2011.

Recently, AEB staffvolunteered as bellringers for the SalvationArmy Red KettleCampaign outside ofJewel in Park Ridgefrom 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.Elisa Maloberti workedwith the Salvation Armyto coordinate AEB’sDay of Service.

Several shoppersnoted their appreciation

of America’s egg farmers and askedegg-related questions. During thetime, donations hovered around $200;however, when combined with redkettles around the Chicago area andcountry, millions of dollars aredonated each year to aid needyfamilies, seniors, and the homeless,in keeping with the spirit of theseason all year.

In 1891, Salvation Army CaptainJoseph McFee resolved to providea free Christmas dinner to those inneed. His major hurdle: funding theproject. He placed a large ironkettle at the end of Market Streetwith a sign that read, “Keep the PotBoiling.” McFee soon had themoney to see that the needy peoplewere properly fed.

Salvation Army bell ringersFellowship

completedAEB’s 2008-2011 Food

Science Fellowship titled“Kinetics of Egg Protein Gelationduring Conventional and RapidHeating” has been completed byPhanin Leksrisompong at NorthCarolina State University.

The objective of this researchwas to understand themechanisms responsible forstructural formation and gelationproperties of egg white proteingels. The unique mixture ofproteins found in egg white allowit to form strong, elastic gelsacross a wide range of pH. Thisstudy demonstrated how themicro-phase separation modelcan be used to explain thetextural and water holdingproperties of egg white gels.These can be used by productdevelopers in designing foodscontaining egg white proteinswith desirable textural and waterholding properties.

A copy of the final report isavailable upon request, contactElisa Maloberti atemaloberti@aeb.org.

“You have to go

through the falling

down in order to learn to

walk. It helps to know that

you can survive it. That’s

an education in itself.

-Carol Burnett

Eggspression

MONTHLY

ENC hosted its first dietetic intern fromLoyola University in November. Havinginterns will benefit ENC/AEB and showcollective commitment and dedication forhelping educate future healthprofessionals. The students completemultiple competencies during their time atENC through projects such as creating andupdating materials, writing blog posts,reviewing research articles and otheractivities.

This intern position with ENC is avaluable rotation to students because manyrotations are geared toward educatingconsumers, while we focus on educatinghealth professionals. ENC’s first dieteticintern Kasia Ciaston from Loyola shared,“I’ve never seen this side of the profession,so it was a great experience.”

ENC supports future RDs

The Nutrition Unscrambled blog by ENC continuesreaching more health professionals (HPs) withpositive egg messages and promoting ENC as acredible source of reliable science. Through GoogleAnalytics, ENC is able to gain useful insights.

In October, more than 1,800 visitors came tothe site in October. Each month since theblog launched the number of visitorshas grown. Facebook was thenumber two referring site due tocross-promotion with theconsumer side. The three-mostread posts in October coveredschool nutrition, myth bustersand school recess. “Whole eggsversus egg whites” continues totop the list of keyword searches thatlead visitors to Nutrition Unscrambled forthe fifth month in a row.

More than 2,700 visitors came to the site inNovember – the highest number yet and a 35 percentincrease from October! PRNewswire was the numberfour referring site due to the vitamin D HP pressrelease. Dietetic intern Kasia Ciaston’s blog post onNovember 17 was by far the most read blog post with346 readers. “Obesity” topped the list of keywordssearched that lead visitors to Nutrition Unscrambled.

Here is Kasia Ciaston’s post from November 17: “Elevating Awareness and Intake of Choline: AnEssential Nutrient for Public Health (article review)”

Early research conducted on choline from the1930s established the link between low choline andliver/muscle damage. Since then, choline has beendeemed as an essential nutrient and the latestevidence demonstrates the increased significance ofcholine throughout the lifecycle. Data collected by the2005 National Health and Nutrition ExaminationSurvey revealed that 90 percent of the U.S.population was consuming less than adequateamounts of dietary choline.

Although choline is produced internally, there aresub-populations with increased requirements due togenetic variations. A recent article in Nutrition Todayexplains emerging research demonstrating the vitalityof choline consumption at all stages of life.

Pregnancy–Choline requirements duringpregnancy and lactation are particularly

high. Choline is present in highconcentrations in amniotic fluidand breast milk which in turnincreases maternal demand forthe nutrient. A low intake ofcholine in this population hasbeen linked to preeclampsia,premature births, and very low

birth weights. Emerging scienceshows that like folic acid, low choline

intake doubles the risk of neural tubedefects. In animal studies conducted with rats,

low choline intake during pregnancy was linked tolong-term cognitive impairment. Rats consumingadequate choline exhibited slower declines in memoryand attention.

Childhood–Studies suggest that choline-sensitivitycontinues after birth into infancy. Adequate cholineduring this stage may enhance brain development,memory, and learning abilities later on in life.

Adulthood–Increased amounts of homocysteine inthe body have been linked to higher risks forcardiovascular disease, bone fractures, cancer andcognitive impairment. Due to the essential role ofcholine in the breakdown of homocysteine amongother metabolic markers, choline has been tagged asplaying potential roles in reduced inflammation andcardiovascular risk

The implications of choline within the health carefield are far and wide. The importance of cholinethroughout the lifecycle is becoming more prominent,but more research is still needed to substantiate itsclaims to fame.

Nutrition Unscrambled blog reaches health professionals

More than 2,700 visitors

came to ENC’s blog in November

– the highest number yet and

a 35 percent increase

from October!

Using funds from mulligan sales, sheriff finesfrom March and July and donations from theNovember Board Meeting where Sheriff BruceDooyema challenged all attendees to place adonation for the Park Ridge Food Pantry in theback of their badge in lieu of fines, AEB supportedthe Park Ridge Food Pantry by shopping for its

most-needed items. The staff also made contributions during December.The first of several loads included 227 various food items. The Food Pantry expressed its gratitude and thanksto AEB. Toys will also be delivered to the local children’s hospital to help meet its most-wanted list.

Good eggs doing good deeds

At AEB’s November meeting, an update of recent foodserviceindustry statistics was presented. The data included highlights ofCREST® research from The NPD Group, an AEB research supplier.CREST® data (i.e. Consumer Reports on Eating Share Trends) looksat consumer purchasing behavior in restaurants through the use of anonline survey.

While overall traffic in the Foodservice industry has declined slightlyin the past three months (for quarter ending August 2011), the picture isbrighter in the Quick Service Restaurant (QSR) segment, where traffichas grown by 1 percent(for the year endingAugust 2011).

Looking specifically atthe QSR segment at theMorning Meal daypart,the picture is evenbrighter as both trafficand check haveincreased by 2 percent(also for the year endingAugust). Looking attrended data, since 2006(year ending August), theQSR Morning Meal segment has gained: two percentage share pointsin traffic, 591 million more restaurant visits, and $7.3 billion inincremental sales. The great news for the egg industry is that over thelast five years, egg popularity at QSR Morning Meal continued toincrease. There are 631 million more servings of eggs since 2006 andthe menu importance of eggs has increased by 10 percent over the lastfour years. AEB’s 2012 Foodservice program will continue to focus onthe incredible opportunity for eggs in the QSR Morning Meal segment.

Incredible Facebook fans top 250,000The holiday coupon offer

for $.55 off two dozen eggson the Incredible EdibleFacebook page was verysuccessful. The FB pagegained more than 51,000fans, bringing the page totalto more than 252,000 fans.This fall, AEB held couponpromotions for Back-to-School, World Egg Day andDecember Holidays. In

total, fans downloaded more than 89,000 coupons!AEB’s site is one of the largest for a food/beverage commodity.

Some commodities are tricky to identify on Facebook, but AEB isworking to confirm that its fan page is, in fact, the largest. Here is asnapshot of where others stand: Pork: 37,939; Beef: 96,706; HaasAvocados: 39,780; Milk Mustache Campaign: 130,973; Got Milk:49,207; Mushroom Channel: 2,159; National Dairy Council: 767; UnitedSoybean Board: 682; and American Peanut Council: 36.

Egg popularity increases

The NutritionFacts Panels(NFPs) for allsizes of eggs,short andhorizontal forms,are now available on

EggNutritionCenter.org under the EggFacts tab. The NFPs were reviewed by anoutside consultant who specializes innutrition label compliance and werereviewed again after minor suggestededits were made to the previous set ofNFPs. Please contact ENC’s MarciaGreenblum with any questions orconcerns at 847.296.7043 or viamgreenblum@eggnutritioncenter.org.

P.O. Box 738

Park Ridge, IL 60068

Return Service RequestNutrition Facts

Each year, AEB allocates funding, based on a population/layer formula, for the state promotionalorganizations to carry out AEB’s national message to consumers on a local level through the State SupportProgram. The leaders of these groups have connections that help AEB extend its reach and maximize thisinvestment. Without these local leaders, AEB would miss a vital opportunity to reach these audiences insuch a targeted and, often, hands-on way. Going forward, the News from AEB will spotlight one eventshowcasing the incredible results of this program each month. Information and pictures of approvedevents that used AEB funding should be sent to Jacinta LeDonne, jledonne@aeb.org, for consideration.

State Support Program Spotlight–a new feature

November 2011–Using AEB funds to buy radioair time, Arizona egg farmers highlighted AEB’scurrent ad campaign and garnered value-addedmentions for its annual PJs & Eggs event. At this event, local breakfast restaurants serve“breakfast for dinner.” This donation event raises

money, collects pajama donations and increases awareness of theArizona Foster Care System.

Each year, more restaurants–with eggscellent names likeScramble, Over Easy and The Good Egg–take on the challenge to serve eggbreakfasts for dinner, while helping support the Arizona Foster Care System.Restaurant employees and customers donate new PJs and wear their own PJs tothe restaurants. Hickman’s Family Farms organizes the event and donates all theeggs to the restaurants, which are not normally open for dinner. Public relationefforts create good will for the restaurants and local egg farmers.

SpotlightOn:

AZ