To better understand consumer awareness and the impact of news, such as the recently reported-on Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) study about the potential health impact of consuming eggs, the American Egg Board (AEB) conducted an omnibus survey.
The JAMA study was released on March 15. Many major media outlets reported on the study, including the Chicago Tribune, Fox News, CBS News, HealthDay, and several others.
The recent reports on JAMA study
“Norrina Allen, associate professor of preventive medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, is one of the authors of a just-released study (JAMA) that analyzed data on nearly 30,000 subjects, following some of them for as long as 31 years, to gauge the impact that diet — in particular, cholesterol consumption — has on heart disease and other causes of death,” the Chicago Tribune reported.
As part of the study, researchers examined the relationship between the consumption of eggs and heart disease. The study concluded that increased egg consumption is directly related to heart disease and death, the Tribune article explained.
“The researchers found that eating just three to four eggs per week was tied to a 6 percent higher risk of heart disease, and an 8 percent risk of dying from any cause,” Fox News reported.
AEB evaluates studies impact on consumers
According to AEB, more than a quarter of Americans (27 percent) have seen news related to eggs recently, and most of those say it was about health information (82 percent).
An AEB newsletter explained that coverage of the study affected more people positively than it did negatively.
“Overall, the news Americans have seen about eggs in the media has not had a negative impact on their perception of eggs, with 56 percent saying it had no impact, 27 percent saying it had a positive impact and 17 percent saying it had a negative impact,” the AEB said. The 17 percent that were negatively impacted by the news were not considered to be regular egg eaters.
Most Americans agree that eggs are safe to eat (82 percent), which despite the recent media attention brought to eggs is a slight increase from April 2018 (78 percent).
