(food)

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Eggs consist of a protec-tive eggshell, albumen (egg white), and vitellus (egg yolk), contained within various thin membranes.

Eggs are laid by females of many different species, includ-ing birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish.

what are eggs? where do they come from?

the basicsPART 1

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Popular choices for egg con-sumption are chicken, duck, quail, roe, and caviar, but the egg most often consumed by humans is the chicken egg, by a wide margin. However, goose, ostriches, gull, guinea fowl, pheasant eggs are also used.

Egg yolks and whole eggs store significant amounts of protein and choline,and are widely used in cookery.

what do we use them for?

why eat eggs?

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egg as foodPART 2

Chicken eggs are widely used in many types of dishes, both sweet and savory, including many baked goods. Some of the most common prepa-ration methods include scrambled, fried, hard-boiled, soft-boiled, and pickled. They can also be eaten raw, though this is not recommended for people who may be especially susceptible to salmonellosis, such as the elderly, the infirm, or pregnant women.

As an ingredient, egg yolks are an important emulsifier in the kitchen, and the proteins in egg white allow it to form foams and aerated dishes.

The albumen, or egg white, contains protein but little or no fat, and can be used in cooking separately from the yolk. Egg whites may be aerated or whipped to a light, fluffy consistency, and are often used in desserts such as meringues and mousse.

Ground egg shells are sometimes used as a food additive to deliver calcium. Every part of an egg is edible, although the eggshell is generally discarded.

egg yolk egg whites egg shell

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issuesPART 3

Egg white coagulates, when it reaches temperatures between 144 °F and 149 °F, (the yolk: 149 °F and 158 °F). If a boiled egg is overcooked, a green-ish ring sometimes appears around yolk due to the iron and sulfur compounds in the egg or an abundance of iron in the water. It doesn´t affect the egg’s taste; but overcooking harms the quality of the pro-tein. Chilling the egg for a few minutes in cold water until it is completely cooled prevents the “ring” from forming.Cooking also increases the risk of atherosclerosis due to increased oxidization of the cholesterol contained in the yolk.

cookingCholesterol and fatMore than half the calories found in eggs come from the fat in the yolk. People on a low-cholesterol diet may need to reduce egg consumption; however, only 27% of the fat in egg is saturated fat that contains LDL cholesterol. The egg white consists primarily of water (87%) and protein (13%) and contains no cholesterol and little, if any, fat. There is debate over whether egg yolk presents a health risk.

Type 2 DiabetesStudies have shown conflict-ing results about a possible connection between egg consumption and type two diabetes.

health

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ContaminationA health issue associated with eggs is contamination by pathogenic bacteria, such as Salmonella enteritidis. Con-tamination of eggs exiting a female bird may also occur with other members of the Salmonella genus, so care must be taken to prevent the egg shell from becoming con-taminated with fecal matter. In commercial practice, eggs are quickly washed with a sanitiz-ing solution within minutes of being laid. The risk of infec-tion from raw or undercooked eggs is dependent in part upon the sanitary conditions under which the hens are kept. Health experts advise people to refrigerate eggs, use them within two weeks, cook them

thoroughly, and never con-sume raw eggs.

Food allergyOne of the most common food allergies in infants is eggs. Infants usually have the op-portunity to grow out of this allergy during childhood, if exposure is minimized. Allergic reactions against egg white are more common than the yolks. Some people experience an intolerance to egg whites. Food labeling practices in most developed countries now include eggs, egg products and the processing of foods on equipment that also process foods containing eggs.

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farmingCommercial factory farming operations often involve raising the hens in small, crowded cages, preventing the chick-ens from engaging in natural behaviors, such as wing-flap-ping, dust-bathing, scratching, pecking, perching and nest-building. Such restrictions can lead to pacing and escape behavior. Many hens confined to battery cages, and some raised in cage-free conditions, are debeaked to prevent harm-ing each other and cannibal-ism. According to critics of the practice, this can cause hens severe pain to the point where some may refuse to eat and starve to death. Some hens may be force molted to increase egg quality and production level after the molt-

ing. Molting can be induced by extended feed withdrawal, water withdrawal or controlled lighting programs. Laying hens are often slaughtered between 100 and 130 weeks of age, when their egg productivity starts to decline.Due to mod-ern selective breeding, laying hen strains differ from meat production strains. As male birds of the laying strain do not lay eggs and are not suit-able for meat production, they are generally culled en mass after hatching.

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alternativesPART 4

packaged foodssoybean lecithin

bakingground flax seeds potato starch flourTofu Applesauce arrowroot banana.

or

egg whites (for those who worry about the high cholesterol and fat content in egg yolks)