Humble egg gets a boost

Thursday marked an important day for Cape Girardeau. On that day, the egg lady visited Cape Girardeau to pass on her "egg-straordinary" knowledge of this food staple that most people have somewhere in their fridge.

Officially, Jo Manhart's title is director of the Missouri Egg Council, but she prefers to be called the egg lady.

And what exactly does an egg lady do?

According to Manhart, she tries to promote eggs through television, radio and print media in order to "let people not forget about eggs."

"I'm here to remind you that eggs are low in calories, have no carbs and are so full of nutrients," she said.

Manhart believes eggs need a publicity agent. "It's one of the basic foods we don't even think about anymore," she said. She also said eggs have been the recipient of some bad press. "I get people to look at them with new eyes," she said.

In the 1980s, when cholesterol concerns were high, Manhart said her main job was defending eggs from studies showing eggs were high in cholesterol. "People were afraid to eat eggs," Manhart said.

According to the Web site of the American Egg Board, studies have now shown that many people on a low-fat diet can eat one or two eggs a day without measurable changes in their blood cholesterol levels.

There was also a time, Manhart said, when eggs were thought to contain dangerous bacteria like salmonella.

"The risk of finding any bacteria in an egg is practically nonexistent," she said. The risk comes once the egg yolk is exposed to air; once egg yolks are exposed to bacteria, it multiplies quickly. This can be prevented by always refrigerating eggs and not eating them raw.

The current climate, however, is friendly toward eggs thanks to the popularity of the Atkins diet and the low-carb craze.

Instead of spending most of her time defending eggs, Manhart appears on television shows, showing off egg recipes that vary from omelettes to desserts.

Missouri is one of about 20 states that has its own egg council, and the state ranks 13th in the nation for egg production. Manhart said Missouri has three major companies that produce eggs and each facility contains at least 1 million egg-laying hens.

Manhart is full of such egg information.

This is a woman who is dedicated to her job, dedicated to the egg. This is a woman whose license plate reads "MO-EGGS" and who, on average, eats three eggs a day.

Her goal though, is getting everybody else in Missouri, including Cape Girardeau, to eat those three eggs a day.

kalfisi@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 182