Egg Producers Confront Cholesterol Issue
(Continued from Page Al)
Nutrition Center in Washington
two and a half years ago. Funded
by the American Egg Board, the
center’s mission is “to put the
whole issue of cholesterol and
heart disease into perspective,”
says the center’s director, Cathy
McCharen.
Although too much cholesterol in
the diet can lead to elevated blood
cholesterol in some cases, other
factors, such as consumption of
saturated fats, excess body weight,
lack of exercise and stress can also
drive cholesterol levels
dangerously high, says McCharen.
The trade show also featured a
number of seminars, one of which
dealt at length with the issue of egg
consumption. Speaking on food
consumption trends in the United
States, Suzanne Harris, USDA’s
deputy asssistant secretary of food
and consumer services, agreed
that Americans may be
overreacting to the egg-cholesterol
issue.
“We know that egg consumption
has gone down,” said Harris,
noting that USDA statistics show
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that the percentage of women
reporting eating eggs dropped
from 29.3 percent in 1977 to 24.3
percent last year.
Harris said that cholesterol
consumption averages 300
milligrams per day for women and
440 milligrams for men. Since men
require a higher daily calorie
intake than women, these levels
work out to comparable intakes on
a per-calorie basis, she said.
Like UEP’s leadership, Harris
believes that setting allowable
cholesterol limits for the
population as a whole over
simplifies a complex issue. In
particular, she finds the American
Heart Association’s guidelines of
100 milligrams of cholesterol per
1,000 calories to be unrealistic.
“The problem is that very few
people are meeting those
guidelines,” she says. Women, in
particular, have difficulty con
suming sufficient calories while
staying below the Heart
Association’s cholesterol
guidelines.
Labeling eggs a “nutrient
dense” food, Harris pointed out
president, said satisfactory
completion of the test program
would result in the installation of
equipment in the contiguous 48
states. “The states will be able to
set up communication systems
with their county offices for both
data and video if they wish,” he
said.
“Two primary benefits of using
the satellite are price predic
tability for our Farm Bureaus and
affiliated services and easier
access of market information by
farmers,” the farm leader said.
The service also gives Farm
Bureau the ability to communicate
with members via one-way video.
Kleckner said “One recent study
showed that a meeting involving
400 people cost almost $3OO a
person but videoconferencing costs
only a fraction of that.”
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that they provide nearly all the
essential nutrients except niacin
and vitamin C, while at the same
time being relatively low in
calories. Particularly for women,
she said, limiting egg intake can do
more harm than good.
While eggs are well-known for
their cholesterol content, other
sources of cholesterol include
shellfish, chicken and red meat.
One of the problems in trying to
limit cholesterol is the fact that
eggs are such a übiquitous
ingredient in many kinds of
prepared foods, Harris said, ad
ding that cholesterol labeling is not
a common practice as yet.
While most people’s systems are
able to regulate cholesterol levels,
hyperlipidemics--those whose
livers tend to overproduce blood
cholesterol-are sensitive to high
levels in their diets. Because of the
variation from one individual to
another, Harris stressed the im
portance of cholesterol screening.
“People don’t know their
cholesterol level like they know
their blood pressure,” she pointed
out.
In addition to attending
seminars dealing with egg con
sumption, leasing in agriculture
and agricultural insurance, con
ference goers had the opportunity
to have their blood cholesterol
levels checked free of charge by
Egg Nutrition Center personnel.
Center director Cathy McCharen
points out that the center’s
screening equipment is available
to egg industry-related groups who
would like to do cholesterol testing
in their areas. For more in
formation on this service contact
the Egg Nutrition Center, 2501 M
Street NW, Washington, D.C.
20037, phone: 202-833-8850.
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UEP s Nutrition Center director Cathy McCharen looks on
as technician Vicki Hunter takes blood sample for cholesterol
screening from Pa. Poultry Federation director John Hoff-
Northeast UEP Trade Show chairman Bruce Limpert
(center) welcomed regional president Christine Bushway and
chairman of the board Joe Cohen to Monday's event in
Atlantic City.
Give Eggs q
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, November 15,1986-A33