Cracking! Eggs back on the breakfast table
Sales have risen by a quarter in past seven years
SIXTY years after the nation was told to ‘go to work on an egg’, it is back as the centrepiece of the British breakfast.
Sales of eggs are up about 5 per cent on last year and have risen almost a quarter compared to seven years ago.
The revival comes amid a backlash against sugar and processed cereals that millions of families previously chose to put on tables.
And at the same time eggs have benefited from the success of protein-based diets.
The increase of 5 per cent so far this year means the nation is scrambling, boiling, frying and poaching 828,000 more eggs every day. Sales total 17.4million a day – adding up to more than 6.3billion eggs a year, according to retail analysts TNS.
TV health expert Dr Michael Mosley said: ‘If you want to keep fuller for longer then the evidence is clear that you should eat a breakfast that is rich in protein, like eggs, ham or fish, rather than sugary cereals or toast. Protein is more satiating than carbohydrates.’
Research conducted for British Egg Week shows that about one in five of us chooses to go to work on an egg at least once a week. Scrambled is most popular, with poached second.
The boom means egg sales are back to the levels seen in the 1980s when then-health minister Edwina Currie infamously labelled them a health threat because of salmonella contamination.
It fuelled concerns over eggs, which were also demonised by doctors for containing high levels of cholesterol – incorrectly assumed to block arteries.
However, today’s eggs are healthier thanks to a change in hens’ diets, lowering cholesterol levels by 13 per cent.
At the same time, vitamin D, which is vital for healthy bones, is up by 64 per cent compared to a decade ago.
The result is that eggs are being pro- moted as a health food, as they are also full of the protein, vitamins, minerals and essential fatty acids.
Until 2009, advice was to eat no more than three eggs a week because of the cholesterol worries – but this warning has been junked. Research by Surrey University found overweight people who ate two eggs a day as part of a reduced calorie diet lost weight and saw no increase in blood cholesterol levels.
And the US Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee has recommended that limitations on consumption of cholesterol found in eggs should be removed from official health guidelines. Nutritionist Cath McDonald said: ‘It’s no secret that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, so it’s great to see that it’s getting healthier. High protein foods such as eggs give people a fantastic start to the day, as they will fill you up and help stop you snacking.’
Andrew Joret, of British Lion Eggs, which commissioned the survey, said: ‘We’ve seen a significant increase in eggs being eaten at breakfast in recent years. We’ve put this down to families wanting to enjoy the cooked breakfast experience, but in a healthier way.’