Did you know that the month of October is celebrated in many countries
as egg month? In fact, today was observed as World Egg Day and Belize was among
one hundred and fifty countries to celebrate the occasion. Now, in the Belizean
diet we can tell you that the chicken definitely does come before the egg, but
poultry producers have gone on an aggressive campaign to see if they can get
Belizeans to eat more eggs. They say that it’s just about one of the healthiest
things you can eat because it’s rich in protein, vitamins and minerals.
But, with the cholesterol risk, is it good for you? That’s what I tried
to find out today.
Jacqueline Godwin Reporting,
The Belize Poultry Association estimates that on average a person eats one hundred
and ten eggs per year.
Orlando Habet, General Manager - Belize Poultry Association
“That is very low. It is one of the lowest in the region and also
if you compare it to our neighbours in Mexico they consume close to four hundred
eggs per person per year. In the United States and in Canada they are close
to two eighty, three hundred eggs per person per year. “
But why are Belizeans not consuming as many eggs?
Shopper #1,
“I does eat egg egg egg, I raised fowl and I does sell fowl but the
heart and this stroke yah and the doctor said too much cholesterol.”
Shopper #2,
“I think it’s too much cholesterol content so I sparingly eat
egg.”
Shopper #3,
“I eat two eggs a week maximum, I don’t eat more because I am
cautious about the cholesterol in the eggs.”
However scientific research reveals that eating one egg per day does not significantly 
raise blood cholesterol levels in healthy individuals.
Orlando Habet,
“And eggs contains, on average a 55 to 60 gram egg contains about
190 grams of cholesterol but only contains five grams of fat and of that only
1.5 grams of saturated fat which is the culprit for cholesterol. It is a precursor
for producing cholesterol in the blood. So the consumption of cholesterol from
foods, not only from eggs, only accounts for 15% of the cholesterol that circulates
in the blood stream. Most of the cholesterol in the body is produced by one’s
own liver and it is a lot genetic. So if you would have a cholesterol problem,
most of the time it is because of genetics and of course diet but diet comes
second.”
Eggs are also being promoted as an excellent food source for growing children
that many countries have made it a must for this natural product to be included
in their school feeding programme.
Dr. Egbert Grinage, Paediatrician
“A lot of concerns about eggs are raised because of the fact that
they contain cholesterol and other lipids which tend to affect, unless there 
are certain genetic syndromes where they may have what we call high lipid levels
in the blood and that affects them prematurely. But in general the rule in children
is we are more concerned that eggs have a very nutritional value in terms of
protein, it is a simple form of protein, very easy to obtain, very easy to cook,
and it can be made in different forms. It can be boiled, scrambled, a lot of
different forms and so it is a easy source of protein for children.”
Orlando Habet,
“In most of these Latin American countries what they are doing is
that the governments are now getting involved in purchasing the eggs from the
producers, from the industry, so that they can supply it to the school feeding
programs because many studies now show that if a child consumes at least one
egg in the morning for breakfast, he can stay awake and alert in class at least
for the first half day.”
Jacqueline Godwin,
Do you see such a problem working here in Belize?
Orlando Habet,
“I think the concept will have to be taken to the government, they
would have to buy into it and some agreement with the industry would have to
be made so that they could possibly get it at a more affordable price since
they will be purchasing a lot and then providing it to the students.”
Dr. Egbert Grinage,
“As you know most of the energy building units in our diets come from
carbohydrates. Second to that is protein and that’s very important in
children because their bodies are growing rapidly and they need protein to make
tissue, to add to the brain. Also in the egg the lipid content helps the different
substances that transmit information in your brain. So it helps healthy brain
development.”
But before you break that egg open, there’s a healthy way to do it.
Karen Rosito, Nutritionist
“The egg is very very healthy. It is over abused or over eaten then
it becomes not healthy because of course the cholesterol found in the yellow.
But my thing is you can eat an egg or two a week whether you have cholesterol
or not. Or if you don’t like the yellow, you have basically have just
the white but you can eat an egg basically for breakfast for lunch, or for supper
because it is actually okay to have maybe egg whites scrambled for supper with
corn tortillas, what better way.”
And according to the BPA’s General Manager Orlando Habet the production
of eggs in Belize is fairly safe.
Orlando Habet,
“In Belize we have very little diseases and the industry is involved
with BAHA and we’re currently working on a farm safety program so that
we can monitor the farms. On the food safety side, the bacterial salmonella
would be one that is of more of a problem. We haven’t through our surveillance
program encountered any problems with any of the diseases so for now Belize
is fairly safe from the disease aspect.”
BPA encourages you to get the facts on eggs and make sure it is part of your
grocery items this long holiday weekend.
The average yearly egg consumption per person in Central America is
120; Belize is just under that at 110.
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