Overcoming the barriers to maximize the commercial potential of vitamin D enriched eggs

Vitamin D deficiency is a common public health problem in the UK. As vitamin D is found in significant amounts in few foods there is an urgent need to develop higher vitamin D containing foods, which will increase vitamin D nutritional intake of the population. Currently there are several UK populations at risk from vitamin D deficiency, including people of South Asian origin, younger adults and very old adults. The aim of the proposal is to overcome the barriers, whether real or perceived, with realizing the commercial potential for the enrichment of eggs with vitamin D. We have prior evidence that this can be achieved in commercially laying hens through the use of innovative tehchnology. We will achieve our aim by conducting industry scale feeding trials in hens, where we will manipulate the dietary composition of feed while adhering to strict European feed guidelines. As well as enhancing the content of eggs in vitamin D, we also expect to enhance the welfare of the birds through the improvement in their diet. We will test the effect of cooking and storing eggs in various conditions to understand if vitamin D stability is influenced by these changes. We will also undertake a human dietary intervention study in adults, to determine if consuming enriched eggs leads to improvements in vitamin D status in the body and we will undertake large consumer studies to gain an understanding of whether such products have market potential and identify how any perceived or real barriers to their adoption can be overcome. The beneficiaries of this project will be the project partners and the UK egg industry who will benefit economically from the project outcomes, but importantly the wider public who will be provided with a rich source of vitamin D to meet their dietary needs. The project addresses the challenge of addressing the health of the nation through nutrition.