Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-gtxcr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-19T02:29:15.916Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Egg fat – a case for concern?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 March 2009

R.C. Noble
Affiliation:
Department of Nutrition and Microbiology, West of Scotland College of Agriculture, Auchincruive, Ayr KA6 5HW, UK
M. Cocchi
Affiliation:
Centro Ricerche sulla Nutrizione, Facolta di Medicine e Chirurgia, Universita di Bologna, Italy
E. Turchetto
Affiliation:
Centro Ricerche sulla Nutrizione, Facolta di Medicine e Chirurgia, Universita di Bologna, Italy
Get access

Abstract

Egg yolk is an obvious source of fat in our daily diet. The trend towards a reduction in fat consumption and concern over the quality of any fat that is consumed have caused a significant erosion of the previously accepted dietary image of the egg. In spite of the extensive and continuing controversy over the quality of dietary fat and the incidence of coronary heart disease, it is now widely recommended that the consumption of animal fats does not predispose to health. Parameters describing what is a healthy dietary fat have been established. Egg fat is examined with regard to these parameters and the justification for its present poor image is scrutinized. So firmly entrenched are the present views on animal fat consumption, that to rehabilitate the egg with the consumer will require a change of approach, away from the complacency of the past to a more positive approach based on attempts to change lipid parameters to align with present consumer perceptions and requirements.

Type
Reviews
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1990

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Aha Committee Report (1982) Rationale of the diet-heart statement of the American Heart Association: Report of nutrition committee. Circulation 65: 839A854AGoogle Scholar
Allen, C.E. and MacKey, M.A. (1982) Compositional characteristics and the potential for change in foods of animal origin. In: Animal Products in Human Nutrition (Eds Beitz, D.C. and Hansen, R.G.) Academic Press, New York, USA, pp.199224CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bacon, W.L., Brown, K.I. and Musser, M.A. (1973) Low density lipoproteins of chicken, turkey and quail egg yolk. Poultry Science 52: 17411744CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Balnave, D. (1968) The influence of gonadal hormones on the uptake of [14C] acetate by liver lipid fractions in the immature male chick. Journal of Endocrinology 42: 119127CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Balnave, D. (1969) The effect of certain gonadal hormones on the content and composition of lipids in the blood and liver of immature male chicks. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology 28: 709716CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Christie, W.W. (1982) Lipid Analysis, Pergamon Press, Oxford, UKGoogle Scholar
Chung, R.A., Ning, J.M.J. and Tsao, Y.C. (1966) Effect of diethylstilbestrol and cholesterol on the fatty acid metabolism of cockerels. Poultry Science 45: 661667CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clarenburg, R., Kim Chung, I.A. and Wakefield, L.M. (1971) Reducing the egg cholesterol level by including emulsified sitosterol in standard chicken diet. Journal of Nutrition 101: 289297CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Common, R.H., Bolton, W. and Rutledge, W.A. (1948) The influence of gonadal hormones on the composition of the blood and liver of the domestic fowl. Journal of Endocrinology 5: 263273CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cook, W.H. (1968) Macromolecular components of egg yolk. In: Egg Quality: a Study of the Hen's Egg (Ed Carter, T.C.) Oliver and Boyd, Edinburgh, UK, pp. 109132Google Scholar
Cook, W.H. and Martin, W.G. (1969) Egg lipoproteins. In: Structural and Functional Aspects of Lipoproteins in Living Systems (Eds Tria, E. and Scanu, A.M.) Academic Press, London, UK, pp. 579615Google Scholar
Couch, J.R. and Saloma, A.E. (1973) Effect of diet on triglyceride structure and composition of egg yolk lipids. Lipids 8: 385392CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
DHSS (1984) Diet and Cardiovascular Disease. COMA Report No. 28, HMSO, London, UKGoogle Scholar
Donaldson, W.E. (1967) Lipid composition of chick embryo and yolk as affected by stage of incubation and maternal diet. Poultry Science 46: 693697CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Feigenbaum, A.S. and Fisher, H. (1959) The influence of dietary fat on the incorporation of fatty acids into the body and egg fat of the hen. Archives of Biochemistry and Biophysics 79: 302306CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fisher, H. and Leveille, G.A. (1957) Observations on the cholesterol, linoleic and linolenic acid content of eggs as influenced by dietary fats. Journal of Nutrition 63: 119129CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gilbert, A.B. (1971a) The female reproductive effort. In: Physiology and Biochemistry of the Domestic Fowl vol. 3 (Eds Bell, D. J. and Freeman, B.M.) Academic Press, London, UK, pp. 11531162Google Scholar
Gilbert, A.B. (1971b) The ovary. In: Physiology and Biochemistry of the Domestic Fowl vol. 3 (Eds. Bell, D.J. and Freeman, B.M.) Academic Press, London, UK, pp.11631208Google Scholar
Gornall, D.A. and Kuksis, A. (1973) Alterations in lipid composition of plasma lipoproteins during deposition of egg yolk. Journal of Lipid Research 14: 197205CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hargis, P.S. (1988) Modifying egg yolk cholesterol in the domestic fowl – a review. World's Poultry Science Journal 44: 1729CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Husbands, D.H.R. and Brown, W.O. (1965) Sex differences in the composition and acetate incorporation into the liver lipids of the adult fowl. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology 14: 445451CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kudzma, D.J., St.Clare, F.L. and Friedberg, S.J. (1975) Mechanisms of avian estrogen-induced hypertriglyceridemia: evidence for overproduction of triglyceride. Journal of Lipid Research 16: 123133CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
LARN (Livelli di Assunzione Giornatieri Raccomandatti di Energia e Nutrienti per la Popolazione Italiana) (1987) Revisione 1986–7, Instituto Nazionale della Nutrizione, Rome, ItalyGoogle Scholar
Leveille, G.A., Romsos, D.R., Yeh, Y.Y. and O'Hea, E.K. (1975) Lipid biosynthesis in the chick. A consideration of site of synthesis, influence of diet and possible regulatory mechanisms. Poultry Science 54: 10751093CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lewis, B. (1988) Nutrition, coronary heart disease and preventive medicine. Proceedings of the Nutrition Society 47: 269275CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lorenz, F.W., Chaikoff, I.L. and Entenman, C. (1938) Liver lipid of the laying and non-laying bird. Journal of Biological Chemistry 123: 577585CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Menge, H., Littlefield, L.H., Frobish, L.T. and Weinland, B.T. (1974) Effect of cellulose and cholesterol on blood and yolk lipids and reproductive efficiency of the hen. Journal of Nutrition 104: 15541556CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Murty, N.L. and Reiser, R. (1961) Influence of graded levels of dietary linoleic and linolenic acids on the fatty acid composition of hen's eggs. Journal of Nutrition 75: 287294CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Naber, E.C. (1976) The cholesterol problem, the egg and lipid metabolism in the laying hen. Poultry Science 55: 1430CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Naber, E.C., Elliot, J.F. and Smith, T.L. (1974) Effect of probucol on reproductive performance and liver lipid metabolism in the laying hen. Poultry Science 53: 1960Google Scholar
NACNE (National Advisory Committee on Nutrition Education) (1983) Proposals for Nutritional Guidelines for Health Education in Britain. Discussion Paper. HMSO, London, UKGoogle Scholar
Narayan, K.A. (1975) Electrophoretic methods for the separation of serum lipoproteins. In: Analysis of Lipids and Lipoproteins (Ed. Perkins, E.G.) American Oil Chemists Society, Illinois, USA, pp.225249Google Scholar
Navarro, J.G., Saavedra, J.C., Borie, F.B. and Caiozzi, M.M. (1972) Influence of dietary fish meal on egg fatty acid composition. Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture 23: 12871292CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Noble, R.C. (1987) Egg lipids. In: Egg Quality: Current Problems and Recent Advances (Eds Wells, R.G. and Belyavin, C.G.) Butterworth, London, UK, pp.159177Google Scholar
Noble, R.C. and Moore, J.H. (1964) Studies on the lipid metabolism of the chick embryo. Canadian Journal of Biochemistry 42: 17291741CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Noble, R.C. and Moore, J.H. (1965) Metabolism of the yolk phospholipids by the developing chick embryo. Canadian Journal of Biochemistry 43: 16771686CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Noble, R.C. and Moore, J.H. (1966) Some aspects of the lipid metabolism of the chick embryo. In: Physiology of the Domestic Fowl (Eds Horton-Smith, C. and Amoroso, E.C.) Oliver and Boyd, Edinburgh, UK, pp.87102Google Scholar
Pankey, R.D. and Stadelman, W.J. (1969) Effect of dietary fats on some chemical and functional properties of eggs. Journal of Food Science 34: 312317CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Parkinson, T.L. (1966) The chemical composition of eggs. Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture 17: 101111CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Privett, O.S., Blank, M.L. and Schmit, J.A. (1962) Studies on the composition of egg lipid. Journal of Food Science 27: 463468CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rhodes, D.N. and Lea, C.H. (1957) Phospholipids. 4. On the composition of hen's egg phospholipids. Biochemical Journal 65: 526533CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sabine, J.R. (1977) Cholesterol. Marcel Dekker, New York, USAGoogle Scholar
Singh, R.A., Weiss, J.F. and Naber, E.C. (1972) Effect of azasterols on sterol metabolism in the laying hen. Poultry Science 51: 449457CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Smith, L.C., Pownall, H.J. and Gotto, A.M. (1978) Annual Review of Biochemistry 47: 751777CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Summers, J.D., Slinker, S.J. and Anderson, W.J. (1966) The effect of feeding various fats and fat by-products on the fatty acid and cholesterol composition of eggs. British Poultry Science 7: 127134CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Taurog, A., Lorenz, F.W., Entennman, C. and Chaikoff, I.L. (1944) The effect of diethylstilboestrol on the in vitro formation of phospholipids in the liver as measured with radioactive phosphorus. Endocrinology 35: 483487CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Turk, D.E. and Barnett, B.D. (1972) Diet and egg cholesterol content. Poultry Science 51: 1881Google Scholar
Weiss, J.F., Johnson, R.M. and Naber, E.C. (1967) Effect of some dietary factors and drugs on cholesterol concentration in the egg and plasma of the hen. Journal of Nutrition 91: 119128CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed