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Sheila Dillon

Neil Rankin

Genevieve Taylor

Anne-Marie Bullock

The Food Programme: The Joy of Eggs

The Joy of Eggs

05/04/2015

BBC Radio 4 - The Food Programme, The Joy of Eggs

Sheila Dillon asks if the humble egg is breaking free of a once-tarnished reputation.

As limits on egg consumption are revised in the US, Sheila Dillon asks if the humble hen's egg is shaking off a once-tarnished reputation to become celebrated again.

We were once told 'Go to work on an egg' but health warnings later saw us cut the number we eat. As the US Dietary Advisory Committee drops its advice on restricting egg consumption Sheila Dillon asks if we're falling back in love with the egg. Similar limits in the UK were lifted several years ago after evidence suggested their cholesterol did not have a significant effect on our blood cholesterol after all.

The amount we eat in the UK is now continuing to rise and the trend for keeping hens at home or in community projects has seen many people collecting their own too. Sheila Dillon asks if the humble egg is breaking free of a tarnished reputation and proving itself to be a versatile protein provider worth celebrating. 

She hears reports from US where yolk-dodgers have demanded white-only 'heart healthy omelettes' and similar concoctions while in Silicon Valley a 'solution' to the egg has been created in a plant protein based alternative which they claim can mimic many of the egg's functions. 

But back in the UK she finds a more celebratory atmosphere - a major retailer has begun supplying guaranteed double yolkers, Neil Rankin, founder of 'Bad Egg' Restaurant has kept his supplier in steady business while Genevieve Taylor found her hens laid so many she had to create new recipes to use them all. 
Has the egg been given too much of a bad rap and is now breaking free and what does the future hold? 

Presented by Sheila Dillon and Produced in Bristol by Anne-Marie Bullock.

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