October 16, 2003

India Introduces Low-Cholesterol "Smart Eggs"

Health freaks now have a reason to celebrate. They no longer need to worry about high cholesterol and deprive themselves of an omelette.

The answer to their problems is "Smart Eggs" which are low in cholesterol and fat. Produced by the department of zoology in Panjab University in India, the eggs were launched there on Wednesday.

The first 'diet eggs' in the region are the outcome of research conducted over a period of four years by Prof S K Taneja, head of PU's zoology department.

Scoring over the average variety, these eggs have 30% less cholesterol, 300% more vitamin E and double the amount of 'omega3'. Another plus point is that these eggs do not have that marked "eggy" odour.

Terming the Smart Eggs as an outcome of different feeding processes and diets of the hens, Taneja said, "These eggs are not produced biogenetically. The diet of the hens has been altered by making adjustments in the macro and micro nutrients at different stages of growth of the birds." That explains the '100% natural eggs' label on the egg crates.

Taneja said that people think twice before consuming normal eggs as the cholesterol content in the yolk is high leading to obesity, diabetes II, hypertension and other cardiovascular diseases.

This explains why the consumption of eggs in a year is low. An average person consumes 30 eggs a year in India. Whereas in Japan the figure is high at 300 eggs and in USA it is 260 eggs a year.

"All other components like the yolk weight, egg weight and aluminium in the Smart Eggs are similar to normal eggs. Cholesterol per egg stands at 170 mg against 240 mg in normal eggs. These eggs have 2.8 mg of Vitamin E against 0.7 mg in normal eggs," added Taneja.

From today onwards, the eggs, priced at Rs 21 for half a dozen would be available in leading stores. Initially, the company will be sticking a label on each crate mentioning the date of manufacture and expiry. Smart Eggs have a shelf life of 15 days. Later the company plans to label each individual egg with the details.