"Who Says Eggs Aren't Healthy or Safe?"
The American Egg Board is a promotional marketing board
appointed by the U.S. government whose mission
is to " increase demand for egg and egg products"
"on behalf of U.S. egg producers."
Now if an individual egg company
wants to run an ad campaign
they can say whatever they want,
but if an egg corporation wants to dip
into the 10 million dollars the American Egg Board
sets aside for advertising,
because the board is overseen by the federal government
corporations are not allowed to lie with those funds.
What a concept!
Which leads to quite revealing exchanges
between egg corporations that want to use that money
and USDA on what egg companies
can and cannot say about eggs.
Thanks to the Freedom of Information Act
I was able to get my hands on some of those emails.
Of course, a lot of what I got looked like this...
"Please note a number of items"
about our salmonella crisis module—
"any questions?"
Or even better entire sheets of paper
that literally just said this.
That was the whole sheet of paper.
Our tax dollars hard at work.
But check this out.
This is some egg company trying to put out a brochure
on healthy snacking for kids.
But because of existing laws
against false and misleading advertising
the head of the USDA's poultry
research and promotion programs reminds them
that you can't couch eggs or egg products
as being healthy or nutritious.
See the words nutritious and healthy
carry certain connotations
(you know that a food is actually good for you),
but because eggs have the amount of cholesterol they do
(plus all the saturated fat)
the words healthy and nutritious are problematic
when it comes to eggs.
This is the USDA saying this!
However, the USDA helpfully suggests,
you could say eggs are nutrient dense.
Wait a second!
Why can you say eggs are nutrient dense but not nutritious?
Because there's no legal definition of nutrient dense.
You can say Twinkies and Coca Cola are nutrient dense,
but legally, you can't say something is nutritious
unless it's actually... nutritious!
So for example, the egg industry wanted to run this ad
calling eggs a nutritional powerhouse
that aids in weight loss.
The USDA had to remind the industry
you can't portray eggs as a diet food
because of the fat and cholesterol content.
In fact, they have nearly twice the calories
of anything that can be called low-calorie.
"Nutritional powerhouse" can't be used either.
Fine, the industry said, they'll move to plan B,
and headline the ad Egg-ceptional nutrition.
Nope, because again given the saturated fat and cholesterol
you can't legally call eggs nutritious.
So, the ad ended up "find true satisfaction"
and instead of weight loss they had to go with
"can reduce hunger."
USDA congratulated them on their cleverness.
Yes, a food that when eaten can reduce hunger—
what a concept!
You can't even call eggs a food relatively low in calories.
Can't say eggs are low in saturated fat—they're not.
Can't say they're relative low in fat.
Can't even call them a rich source of protein,
because they're not.
It's illegal to advertise that eggs pack a nutritional wallop—
can't truthfully say that,
or have a high nutritional content.
You can't say eggs are "nutritious" at all.
Can't say nutritious;
cannot say eggs are nutritious.
(Sometimes you have to tell the industry a few times).
Eggs have so much cholesterol
you can't even say they contribute nutritionally.
Can't say eggs are healthful,
certainly can't say they're healthy—
have you seen how much cholesterol
there are in those things?
Can't say healthy.
Can't even say eggs contribute healthful components.
Since you can't say eggs are a healthy start to the day,
the USDA suggests satisfying start.
Can't call eggs a healthful ingredient,
but you can call eggs a recognizable ingredient.
Can't truthfully say eggs are good for you.
Can't say they're good for you.
By law, the egg industry
"needs to steer clear of words like healthy or nutritious."
For a food to be labeled "healthy" under FDA rules,
it has to be low in saturated fat—
eggs fail that test—
and less that 90mg of cholesterol per serving—
even half an egg fails that criteria.
For the same reason you can't tout ice cream
for healthy bones,
you can't say eggs are healthy because
they exceed the limit for cholesterol.
Egg corporations aren't even allowed to say things like
"Eggs are an important part of a well balanced, healthy diet",
on an egg carton because
it would be considered misleading,
according to the USDA's National Egg Supervisor
since eggs contain significant amounts of fat and cholesterol,
and therefore contribute to the
leading killer in the United States, heart disease.
The industry can't afford to tell the truth about eggs,
or even the hens that lay them.
The industry crams 5 to 10 birds in cages
the size of a file cabinet their whole lives,
but when providing footage to the media
the American Egg Board instructs
"do not show multiple birds in cages-"
"they look too crowded "
"and open us up to activist criticism."
In other words, do not show… the truth.
Not only is the industry barred from saying
eggs are healthy,
they can't even refer to eggs as safe,
"all references to safety must be removed."
because more than a hundred thousand Americans
are salmonella poisoned every year from eggs.
The egg board response to this eggborne epidemic is that
Salmonella is a naturally occurring bacteria.
The egg industry didn't think that should
necessarily be the key message,
fearing "it may be counterproductive"
"by implying there is no avoiding salmonella in eggs"
"aside from avoiding eggs altogether."
That's why the American Egg Board
can't even mention anything but eggs cooked hard and dry.
No soft-boiled, no over-easy, no sunny-side up
because of salmonella.
The American Egg Board's own research showed
that the sunny-side up cooking method
should be considered unsafe.
And because of avian influenza as well, not just salmonella.
In light of bird flu viruses eggs must be cooked firm.
The VP of marketing for the Egg Board complained
to the USDA saying they'd really like to not have to dictate
that yolks are firm.
What about some Washington Post article
saying runny yolks may be safe for everyone
except pregnant women, infants, elderly,
or those with chronic disease?
Turns out that was a misquote—
they can't be considered safe for anyone.
Instead of safe you can call eggs fresh,
the USDA marketing service helpfully suggests.
But you can't call eggs safe,
you cannot say eggs are safe to eat,
can't say they're safe,
can't even mention safety,
can't say they're healthful.
All "references to healthfulness must be deleted" as well.
Wait a second...eggs can't really be called healthy?
Eggs can't even really be called safe?
Says who…
Says the United States Department of Agriculture.