Poultry Association Urges Egg Consumption

Every second Friday in October is World Egg Day and Nigeria is one of the seven countries in Africa that celebrate it. Funtuna eggs, the first to introduce the concept of branded and packaged eggs to the Nigerian food industry, is the ambassador for the global Egg Commission (IEC) in Nigeria.

As decided by the Union Government, the 20th World Egg Day was celebrated in four cities of the country- Bhubaneswar, Lucknow, Mumbai and Vijayawada.

World Egg Day will be celebrated in Vijayawada today as per the directions of Central government. A run is also being organised on the occasion.

Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has advised farmers to diversify into poultry and dairy sectors as too much dependence on agriculture has led to diminishing returns for them. Important dignitaries from South India are being invited to take part in the celebrations.

Different competitions, including egg spoon race, egg-based cooking recipes demonstration and speech contests were held on the occasion. The poultry sector is focused on East and West Godavari, Krishna and Guntur districts, while the Rayalaseema region continues to be a poor performer.

“In the same light, the Harvard School of Public Health published that moderate egg consumption which is defined as one egg per day is not associated with increased risk of heart disease and does not have a negative impact on cholesterol neither does it affect a person’s lipid profile”. The Per Capita Egg consumption in AP is 99 eggs per year against the national average of 68 eggs and the recommendation of National Nutrition Council of 180 eggs per head per annum. An egg contains the ideal combination of protein, 12 vitamins and 12 minerals.

Egg protein has just the right mix of essential amino acids needed by humans to build tissues.

Also speaking, Director General of the Association, Onallo Akpa, said having eggs for breakfast, assists dieters to lose weight because of the feeling of fullness or satiety reflex an egg meal stimulates.

“With the scarcity of egg presently, poultry farmers should take the advantage and expand their farms and do more businesses in egg production”. The National Egg Coordination Committee (NECC) will be holding several programs for spreading awareness regarding egg nutrition in several parts of India.