Sponsored by American Egg Board

Why are eggs used in the baking industry?
 Eggs perform more than 20 different functions, enabling bakers to eliminate the use of additives or additional ingredients. Those functions include the abilities to add color, coagulate, emulsify and add texture to bakery foods. Using eggs in bakery food formulas will simplify bakery foods' ingredient labels.

How do eggs add color to bakery foods?
 Color is enhanced because of the cartenoids present in eggs. Found in the lipid portion of egg yolks, cartenoids give the crusts of bakery foods a golden brown color.

How do eggs coagulate in bakery foods?
 When eggs are heated or beaten, they turn mixtures from a liquid into a semi-solid or solid state. Coagulation also binds ingredients together, preventing crumbing, and forms the building block structures for bakery foods.

What emulsification properties do eggs have?
 This ingredient is renowned for its emulsification properties. Egg yolks allow fats to stay dispersed in water and water to stay dispersed in fats. This promotes thickening and product stability.

Does emulsification enhance other features in bakery foods?
 Yes. Egg products provide a soft texture due to the ingredient's emulsification properties. Eggs coat liquids and fats to give bakery foods a smooth, creamy texture. Lecithin, found in egg yolks, also enhances texture. Lecithin reduces moisture loss, which ensures a soft, tender crumb texture.

Can eggs provide moisture in any other ways?
 By mixing eggs with cream or milk, bakers can create different types of glazes. These glazes retain the moisture in bakery foods and also bind seeds, crumbs, nuts and other coatings to the bakery foods' crusts.

What other properties do eggs have?
 Eggs, particularly egg whites, provide foaming properties. Through whipping, eggs incorporate air and foam, which gives volume and structure to bakery foods. Foaming holds bakery foods together and promotes a lighter product with smooth mouthfeel. Eggs produce a larger foam volume than other foaming agents, making it ideal for baking. This is especially ideal for cakes, such as angel food cake, because the aeration provides necessary structure.

Are eggs ideal ingredients for sweet goods?
 Yes. In applications where there is a high ratio of sugar to water, such as frostings or sweet goods, eggs slow down the crystallization process to give a smooth texture. This is especially true of egg whites. In frostings and glazes, eggs also thicken and create a firm base.

What other bakery foods are ideal for eggs?
 Eggs work well in nutritional bars because they provide high-quality protein, flavor and richness. Eggs also bind the ingredients and give structure in nutritional bars. Eggs also can be incorporated into gel fillings for sweet goods.

How easy is it to incorporate eggs into bakery foods?
 It's simple. Eggs are available in many different forms, including whole or separated, plain, enhanced, fortified or blended. Eggs also are accessible as liquid, dried or frozen products.

Are egg products, such as liquid, dried or frozen eggs, as functional and nutritious as shelled eggs?
 Most egg products offer the same functions and nutrition as shelled eggs. In addition, egg products require less storage space. Egg products are economical, because costs concerning breakage, shipping and handling are eliminated or reduced. If properly stored, egg products retain their quality for several months and provide consistent performance. Salmonella and other bacteria also are destroyed during pasteurization of egg products.

Whole Egg Nutrition Values
Per 100g Liquid Dried
Protein - grams 11.95 47.35
Moisture - grams 75.85 3.1
Fat (total lipid) - grams 10.2 40.95
Carbohydrate - grams 1.05 4.95
Calories 148 594
Cholesterol - mgs 432 1,715
Riboflavin - mgs 0.46 1.54
B12 - mcgs 1.07 3.95
Vitamin A - IU 525 900
Folic acid - mcgs 73 171
Vitamin D - IU 34.55 188
Calcium - mgs 59 231
Iron - mgs 1.85 6.79

Source: American Egg Board

Eggs: healthful ingredient with functional properties

How can eggs help formulate foods to fit today's health concerns?
 When looking at how consumer attitudes have changed over the past 10-plus years, HealthFocus research shows that the consumer market has shifted from a largely reactive population釦rying to avoid health problems釦o a more proactive population managing daily health and preparing for a healthier future.

Consuming foods rich in nutrients associated with preventing or retarding many of the chronic health conditions is an easy dietary solution. Many of such functional nutrients are found in egg products. Besides the egg's high-quality protein, other egg nutrients may be helpful in retaining good vision and ensuring good memory. The lutein and zeaxanthin in egg yolks may help protect against cataracts and age-related macular degeneration, a leading cause of blindness in older Americans. Scientists also believe that the egg yolk's choline helps ensure proper infant brain development and memory capacity throughout life. So, when your product development plans call for foods formulated to meet specific nutritional needs, look to the versatile, nutrient-dense egg.

Should we be concerned about cholesterol?
 The latest guidelines from the American Heart Association no longer have a restriction on egg yolk consumption. Based on a comprehensive Harvard study, as well as decades' worth of other research, it is now accepted that saturated fat is the major dietary culprit in raising blood cholesterol levels, followed by total fat. Eggs are a medium fat food and almost two-thirds of the fat in egg yolks is unsaturated.

What about egg products and trans-fat?
 By Jan. 1, trans-fat information must be added to the nutrition facts panel on the food label. The good news for food manufacturers using egg products is that eggs only contain trace amounts of trans-fatty acids, well below the 0.5 gram level established as the quantity necessary to be declared on the food label. Including eggs in product formulations adds an insignificant amount of transfatty acids to the total product.

For more information, call the Egg Answer Line at 877-488-6143 or go to www.aeb.org