16 February 2011

USDA Again Testing Food for Nutrients

USDA is testing foods for nutrients and healthiness issues to update what was done in 2002. The first to be reported is eggs. While the press release emphasizes cholesterol and vitamin D, all it says in addition is that it is testing a host of other nutrients. To date I have not been able to locate the results of the tests.

The press release states that the level of cholesterol has dropped by 14 percent and the level of vitamin D has increased by 64 percent. The tests are from regular large-shell eggs selected from a dozen locations across the country. The eggs were then tested by an independent laboratory at Virginia Tech University.

What seems so false in the report is the credit given to farmers for the change in the levels because of feed changes. No mention is made giving credit to feed manufacturing companies that have put research from universities and their own laboratories into better feeds for the farmers to use.

The new information will be updated on nutrition labels on cartons of eggs in the grocery stores and on the menus. With this I had to go and save an egg carton so that I can watch for changes over the next few months to see if the changes are actually made.

Even the eggs are being back some of the good name they used to have. The limit of one egg per day has not changed yet, but at least egg substitutes are receiving less credit for being better than eggs. I am sure there will be a rash of new studies from the anti-egg people insisting that eggs are still not good for you.

With the new information, at least the American Egg Board and other agricultural groups can again promote the eggs as being heart-healthy. Read the article from the press release here.

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