NAUGHTY BY NATURE?

I have discovered when freeway traffic is unbearably jammed,  pulling into the car pool lane despite having no passengers, can really lifts one's spirits.  Once there, zipping past hordes of irate commuters, I entertain myself with the challenge of coming up with a credible defense if stopped by the highway patrol.  

Earlier this week during one of these creative sessions I was distracted by Larry Mantle's voice on the radio.  It was a teaser promoting an upcoming segment he would be doing on the egg shortage.  I gave up listening to Larry Mantle more than a decade ago.  His insistence on compiling several thousand words into a single question drove me off.  It is especially bad when he rolls out the first question for the poor bastard being interviewed.  Larry inserts every possible bit of information and nuance that he can conger up, until the question is a paragraph short of War and Peace.  I don't know if there was ever enough airtime to allow for a response because I eventually grew weary and switched stations.  

The teaser for the egg segment would have been perfectly fine had it simply stated that it deals with the shortage and price of eggs.  But Larry's styling required him to drastically expand the scope of the topic, including countless incidents in a typical day where the general public might come face-to-face with an egg.  Contained in this endless saga was the assumption that one might put away a couple of eggs a week.  

Later that day I got to googling and found that the average Joe consumes nearly six eggs a week and when you search for  "foods made with eggs",  it's a long, long list.  I began to wonder if Larry said "couple" because he failed to research the topic; or as I came to suspect, because he considered any more than a couple to be unthinkable.  This set me off to try and understand what's so bad about eggs and who's got it in for them?

Looking for the source that sounded the egg alarm I ran across a warning regarding egg whites.  The concern was that western man consumes far more protein than necessary and egg whites with their concentration of animal protein are a threat to the kidneys.  The author of this health alert went so far as  to underscore the startling notion that this concentrated animal protein was the very material from which sprang "yet to be developed body parts" - a bit over the top for my taste. 

Eventually, I found what appeared to be a possible source for the egg's bad press.  Every 5 years the U.S. Department of Human Services issues Dietary Guidelines for Americans.  The current release sets limits for sodium, sugar, cholesterol and fat levels in foods.

My first reaction was why was it necessary to specify that this is for Americans.  Wouldn't the same advice apply to Turks, Aussies and Romanians?  I also thought that usually when someone peppers their text with superfluous mentions of "Americans" it's coming from someone who's joined a militia.

When it comes to eggs, the guidelines recommend a limit of one half an egg per day if you are suffering from diabetes, cardiovascular disease or high cholesterol.  With a clean bill of health, one full egg per day is permitted.  The guidelines are intended for health professionals and policy makers.  The guidelines are reviewed by an advisory committee that draws from "partners" who are "expected to promote nutrition content".

One such partner is the American Society for Nutrition which is funded by Coca Cola, Pepsico, the Salt Institute, the Sugar Association and General Mills.  Other contributing partners are funded by Kellogg, Mars, McDonalds, Red Bull and Monsanto Vegetable Seeds.

I wonder, would the partners funded by soft drink makers recuse themselves from discussions regarding allowable levels of sodium?  Do you suppose partners funded by cereal makers would have any reason to bad mouth eggs for breakfast?

The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (AND) is the nation's largest association of nutrition professionals and conducts educational events for its 74,000 members.  In prior years, food industry contributions comprised 38% of the Academy's annual revenue.  A past AND annual convention had 23% of its speakers with corporate ties; and only 12% of the exhibit space was devoted to non-processed foods.

Defense Department policy and budgets are influenced by lobbyists from Raytheon and the like.  Decisions regarding national health are influenced by the insurance industry.  How much of a surprise would it be to learn that the bad rap on eggs comes from the maker of Cocoa Krispies?