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Americans Eat, On Average, 250 Eggs Per Year Each

June 3rd is time to get a crack on the annual observance of National Egg Day!

  • Eggs are laid by females of many different species, including birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish, and have been eaten by mankind for thousands of years. Bird and reptile eggs consist of a protective eggshell, albumen (egg white), and vitellus (egg yolk), contained within various thin membranes. Popular choices for egg consumption are chicken, duck, quail, roe, and caviar, but the egg most often consumed by humans is the chicken egg, by a wide margin.
  • Egg yolks and whole eggs store significant amounts of protein and choline, and are widely used in cookery. Due to their protein content, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) categorizes eggs as Meats within the Food Guide Pyramid. Despite the nutritional value of eggs, there are some potential health issues arising from egg quality, storage, and individual allergies.
  • About 240 million laying hens produce some 50 billion eggs each year in the United States. That’s roughly one hen for every man, woman, and child in the country.
  • White shelled eggs are produced by hens with white feathers and ear lobes. Brown shelled eggs are produced by hens with red feathers and red ear lobes. There is no difference in nutrition between white and brown eggs.
  • An average hen lays 300 to 325 eggs a year. A hen starts laying eggs at 19 weeks of age.
  • The hen must eat 4 pounds of feed to make a dozen eggs.
  • While it is customary to throw rice at weddings in many countries, French brides break an egg on the threshold of their new home before stepping in for luck and healthy babies.
  • Eggs are placed in their cartons large end up to keep the air cell in place and the yolk centered.
  • Eggs age more in one day at room temperature than in one week in the refrigerator
  • Eggs can be kept refrigerated in their carton for at least 4 to 5 weeks beyond the package date.
  • Eggs contain the highest quality food protein known. It is second only to mother’s milk for human nutrition.
  • The largest single chicken egg ever laid weighed a pound with a double yolk and double shell
  • The most expensive egg ever sold was the Faberge “Winter Egg” sold in 1994 for $5.6 million.
  • US eggs would be illegal in a British supermarket because they are washed. British eggs are illegal in US markets because they’re unwashed. – Source
  • You can “peel” hard boiled eggs by blowing the egg right out of the shell. – Source
  •  The Ostrich-Egg Globe may be the oldest globe, dated 1504, to depict the New World, engraved with immaculate detail on two conjoined halves of ostrich eggs. – Source
  • Unfertilized bumblebee eggs become males, and only fertilized eggs grow into females and queens. – Source
  • A hen turns her egg nearly 50 times each day to keep the yolk from sticking to the side. – Source
  • The Araucana Chicken is also called the “Easter Egg Chicken” because it lays natural blue, green, pink, and brown eggs. – Source
  • The word “yolk” is derived from an Old English word that means “yellow.” Therefore it is egg white and egg yellow. – Source
  • In the 1950s, physicians performed accurate pregnancy tests by injecting urine from the supposedly pregnant women into a frog. If the frog produced eggs within 24 hours, pregnancy was deemed positive. – Source
  • If you eat an egg raw, you only get about half the protein as eating them cooked.
  • Americans eat, on average, 250 eggs per year each. But that’s “average.”
  • Supposedly the Romans made the first omelette back in ancient times. It was made of eggs and sweetened with honey. It was called Ovemele, meaning eggs and honey.
  • The color of an egg’s yolk is an indicator of the diet of the hen that laid it. For instance, a darker yellow yolk may indicate a hen fed green vegetables or allowed to free range forage.
  • Iowa produces more eggs than any other state in the US – nearly 15 *billion* per year. This sustains around 8,000 jobs in Iowa.
  • ‘Cage-free’ Eggs May Come from Hens That Live in Cages. “Cage Free” only means hens are required to have a minimum of 120 square inches per bird, which is not even double the area of conventional battery cages.
  • Not Every Egg in Your Carton is the Same Size.  Although your carton says you’re getting “Large” eggs, not every egg in that paper box is exactly the same size. Rather than requiring a specific size and weight for individual eggs, the USDA has guidelines for egg weights per dozen.
  • Chef hats traditionally have pleats equal to the number of ways that you can cook an egg.

Sources:

National Day Calendar

Mobile-Cuisine

Kickass Facts

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