Composition and marketing of specialty Eggs

摘要

Consumers are having increased interest in functional foods. Firms are now marketing eggs enriched with certain nutrients such as vitamins, minerals and omega-3 fatty acids. There are also those consumers interested in natural or organic foods. Thedefinition of such foods may include such attributes as pesticide free, low fat, less cholesterol, pesticide free, drug free, free range, hormone-free, animal-fat free or cage-free environment. Speciality eggs are now being marketed incorporating some ofthese attributes. Retailers are marketing these specialty eggs at prices as high as two or three times that obtained for conventional eggs (Blank, 1997, Egg Industry 102:7,1). An article by Sloan, 2002 (Food Technology 56(1):27-37) reported that world-wide marketing of organic eggs has been estimated to be approximately 22 million dollar. Europe leads in sales of organic foods at 12.6 billion dollar while the U.S. is second at 11.8 billion dollar. Therefore, these trends indicate that future markets for specialty eggs may have increased potential.