Nutritional value of eggs highlighted

Rawalpindi

The World Egg Day was celebrated at Pir Mehr Ali Shah-Arid Agriculture University Rawalpindi (PMAS-AAUR), here on Friday, with an aim to create public awareness about the nutritional value of eggs and its importance in human diet.

To mark the day, Faculty of Veterinary and Animal Sciences (FVAS) of PMAS-AAUR in collaboration with SB Eggs and Pakistan Poultry Association Islamabad, Poultry Farmers Academy and Poultry Science Club organised different events including Egg Dish Cooking Competition, National Seminar on Importance of Egg and awareness walk.

On the occasion PMAS-AAUR Vice Chancellor Prof. Dr. Rai Niaz Ahmad was the chief guest, while Dr. Muhammad Sadiq Chairman SB Poultry was the guest of honour. Ex-chairman Pakistan Poultry Association Khalid Saleem Malik, Marketing Manager SB Poultry Sohail Ahmad, Dr. Safdar Ali, Dr. Irfan Yousaf and Dr. Nasir Mukhtar of FVAS, also addressed the participants of the event.

Expressing his views, PMAS-AAUR Vice Chancellor Prof. Dr. Rai Niaz Ahmad appreciated the organisers and participating students for organising such a colourful event and said eggs have a vital role to play in feeding people around the world. He said that the eggs have excellent and affordable source of high quality protein and emphasised the need for understanding that egg is a complete diet and replete with the best kinds of protein, vitamins and minerals. He also highlighted the real value of egg as an essential item of daily life. The vice chancellor further said that the university is forming close ties with the poultry industry and could resolve challenges and problems through research. He assured that the university could provide all-out technical support and services to farmers for the advancement of the poultry sector. Boiled eggs were also distributed throughout university.

Chairman SB Poultry Dr. Muhammad Sadiq in his address, said that poultry sector is one of the most organised agro-based sectors of Pakistan and providing affordable poultry products to the masses to fulfil the requirements of protein. He stressed that efforts should be made to make people aware of the above facts to increase egg consumption to ensure the good health of people because only a healthy generation can take a country to the pinnacle of progress and prosperity.

While addressing, the other speakers were of the view, eggs contain carotenoids, lutein and zeaxanthin, which help decrease the risk of age-related macular degeneration. They further added that eggs are also excellent source of choline, which is essential nutrient for human health, especially for brain development and also help in preventing heart diseases. Eggs have a high nutrient density as in proportion to their calorie count they provided 12 % of daily value for protein and other nutrients such as vitamin A, B6, B12, Folate, Iron, Phosphorous and Zinc, they added.

Earlier, in connection with World Egg Day, an awareness walk and egg cooking competition were also held at university in which large number of students and faculty members participated.