Scrambled, boiled, poached or fried, how do you like your eggs? Today, October 9, is World Egg Day.
The first World Egg Day was established by the International Egg Commission in 1996 to celebrate the benefits of eggs.
Eggs have been described by nutritionists as nature’s large vitamin pill – a mineral cocktail; they contain many of the essential vitamins and minerals required for a healthy diet.
According to Bord Bia, Ireland is now producing 551m eggs annually and sales of eggs are on the rise, with Irish consumers spending €103m per year.
A recent study by Kantar Worldpanel revealed that Irish people are buying 7% more eggs than they were last year, buying eggs more frequently and in bigger volumes.
Frequency of egg purchase is up 2.5%, while packs of 10 or more eggs account for 60% of all egg sales in 2015, which is a 6% increase on 2014, according to Bord Bia.
Here are a dozen hard-boiled facts on eggs from the Egg Nutrition Centre:
- Eggs contain the highest quality protein you can buy.
- To tell if an egg is raw or hard-cooked, spin it! If the egg spins easily, it is hard-cooked but if it wobbles, it is raw.
- Egg yolks are one of the few foods that are a naturally good source of Vitamin D.
- If an egg is accidentally dropped on the floor, sprinkle it heavily with salt for easy clean up.
- Yolk colour depends on the diet of the hen.
- Eggs age more in one day at room temperature than in one week in the fridge.
- A large egg contains only 70 calories and 5g of fat.
- Egg protein has just the right mix of essential amino acids needed by humans to build tissues. It is second only to mother’s milk for human nutrition.
- An average hen lays 300 to 325 eggs a year.
- It takes a hen 24-26 hours to produce one egg.
- As a hen grows older she produces larger eggs.
- The fastest omelette maker in the world made 427 two-egg omelettes in 30 minutes. American Egg Board’s Howard Helmer, is the Omelette King; he holds three Guinness World Records for omelette making.