Eggcellent Eggs

Eggs are a delicious, affordable, versatile, and nutritious food to include as part of your family’s regular diet.  They are easy to prepare and provide a perfect protein source.

Eggs contain 13 different vitamins and nutrients

• protein needed for growth, strength and repair of muscle and tissue. They contain the highest quality food protein known.
• vitamin A important for vision, growth, cell division and immunity
• vitamin B5 needed for energy production and formation of red blood cells and certain hormones
• antioxidants vitamin E, selenium, lutein and zeaxanthin for protecting against cell damage
• vitamin B12 needed for creating red blood cells, DNA, and the function of brain and nerve cells, as well as iron, iodine and phosphorus
• choline linked to brain health and cognitive development
• one of the few foods containing vitamin D (found in the yolk) needed to help absorb and retain calcium and phosphorus
• a good source of omega-3 fatty acids

Affordable

Eggs are not only nutritious, they are reasonably priced, easy to prepare and suitable for any meal.  This makes them a perfect option for busy schedules.

Easy enough for kids to prepare

Eggs are also an ideal way to involve your child in helping in the kitchen.  This provides opportunities to share quality time together, teach about the importance of diet and health, reinforce food and kitchen safety, build basic cooking skills, promote creativity, and provide time to share the food they have prepared with others.  Depending on age, a child can scramble, peel hard boiled eggs, make egg salad in a baggie, prepare “Eggs in a Hole” for breakfast, assemble breakfast burritos, make mini breakfast pizzas, or cook microwave mug omelets.

Are brown better than white?

Other than appearance, there is not a difference in taste or nutritional value between various colors.  The color of a chicken egg is based on the hen’s genetics and the color of her earlobe which ranges from white to almost black.  Hens with white earlobes lay white eggs while hens with dark earlobes lay brown eggs.  There are even hens with pale green or blue lobes that lay green or blue shades of eggs

Food safety

Raw and under-cooked eggs can pose a food safety risk, so it is important to carefully handle and prepare them.  They may contain salmonella which can cause symptoms of fever, diarrhea, vomiting, stomach cramps or more serious illness.  Sickness from salmonella can be avoided by cooking foods to the proper temperature and following food safety practices such as these:

• Store eggs in the refrigerator at 40˚ F at all times until ready to use.
• Wash hands with warm water and soap for at least 20 seconds before and after handling.
• Wash all utensils, equipment, and work surfaces with hot, soapy water before and after coming in contact with foods containing raw eggs.
• Fully cook egg dishes to 160˚ F.
• Consider using pasteurized eggs, especially for raw or lightly cooked eggs in recipes like homemade salad dressings or homemade ice cream that isn’t cooked.
• Leftovers should be refrigerated promptly. Do not leave them out for longer than 2 hours.