This #WorldEggDay, DSM Animal Nutrition and Health sought to communicate the uniqueness and benefits of the humble egg, its unrivalled versatility as a protein source for our health and its unbeatable sustainability credentials for our planet.
Not many people know that eggs are one of the most sustainable forms of animal protein, boasting one of the lowest environmental footprints compared to other meat and fish. They’re also incredibly nutritious, containing 6g of protein, 14 essentional nutrients and vitamin D, which is vital for the development of bones and teeth, and for boosting human immune system.
One of the biggest challenges facing the industry is that of egg breakage. 1.2 trillion eggs are laid annually and the breakage number is around 8%* (*DSM estimate). Food loss and waste is one of the largest problems facing our planet; current estimates are that 1.3 billion tons of food – that’s one-third of all food produced – is wasted every year. But as our population continues to grow at a rapid pace, we need to produce much more nutritious food, whilst simultaneously reducing carbon emissions. We’re convinced eggs play a vital role in solving this problem due to their brilliant nutritional credentials and low environmental impact.
Improving the quality of eggs by reducing food loss and waste is one of the key sustainability focus areas for us at DSM, and is part of the We Make It Possible strategic initiative that sets to make animal feed and agriculture a more positive part of our natural environment, through investment in scientific innovation in sustainability.
For years, we have been pioneering innovative solutions that help hens lay robust and nutritious eggs, leading to significantly less egg breakage. For example, our vitamin D3 metabolite HyD® (the bioactive form of vitamin D) product, when fed to hens throughout their lifetime, improves mineral balance and skeletal development in chickens. It also increases the vitamin D content of their eggs, and improves eggshell thickness by 4%, leading to a 15% reduction in breakage. On a global scale, that’s an enormous quantity of eggs that will be eaten, rather than wasted, reducing global hunger and helping us to healthily feed our growing global population.
Less breakage during production will ensure greater productivity and profitability for the industry, whilst reducing loss in transport and in consumer homes will create a much stronger value chain at every stage. DSM believes in three core values, which we put at the heart of everything we do: People, Planet, and Profit. Reducing egg loss and waste epitomises how those values work together and support each other.
One of the other prominent issues facing the egg industry is that many people simply don’t understand the benefit of eggs, either nutritionally or environmentally. With that in mind, DSM Animal Health and Nutrition decided to launch the EggFamily, aiming to educate people on why eggs are an important part of a balanced diet. Each member of the EggFamily has a different personality, and specialises in giving different kinds of information, from fun facts to recipes and tutorials. We hope that by breaking information down in this fun and accessible way, we can begin to show people just how egg-citing eggs really are!
Eggs are affordable, versatile, and easy to cook—important factors that show how central they could be to ensuring our planet is able to provide a healthy, sustainable diet for all. We want to make eating healthy and sustainably achievable for everyone—producers and consumers alike—and we feel that through our products and initiatives like the EggFamily, we can make a real difference not only on how our industry operates, but also to how it is perceived.
We Make It Possible.
