Broiler eggs, which are being altered into desi eggs by changing its colour.
Staff Reporter
BERHAMPUR: Small broiler eggs are being altered to look like country chicken eggs by the unscrupulous traders to bank on the popular belief that country eggs are more nutritious than the broiler eggs.
However, the medical fraternity say that the broiler eggs are in not inferior to the country chicken eggs, which are locally known as ‘desi eggs’.
But for decades people have the wrong notion that the small ‘desi eggs’ provide more energy with its high protein content.
As the sale of ‘desi eggs’ is quite less than its actual demand, the traders have come out with devious methods to cheat the gullible customers. In fact it is quite easy to get broiler eggs altered into desi eggs.
They collect small eggs discarded out of broiler egg crates. Egg traders sell it off for a small price. Later, the outer shells of the small eggs are given a brown-pinkish colour to look like the desi eggs. This magic is done by the tea leaves. The eggs are rolled in luke warm water in which tea leaves have been boiled. After changing the colour the small eggs are being sold at Rs. 3.50 to Rs. 5 per per egg. Paediatricians like T. Prakash Rao clarifies that the children should be given broiler eggs that are produced in farms rather than the desi ones as broiler eggs have more protein content due to large white portion.
Whereas the small eggs laid by country chickens have large yolk and high fat and cholesterol content. Moreover, the eggs of country chickens might be laid at unhygienic places, leading to contamination in their outer shell with ‘Salmonella’ bacteria and other spoilage organisms. The contamination of the outer shells of the eggs laid by the country chicken might lead to gastro-enteritis if the eggs were not washed properly.
Physicians say that contrary to the belief that raw eggs are good for health, children should never consume raw eggs one can not digest such eggs properly.
