Eggs and Allergies

I have lots of family members who are intolerant to eggs and it’s one of the reasons I have left eggs out of the recipes in my latest book ‘Easy, Tasty, Healthy. That doesn’t mean that I think eggs are bad – it’s just that they don’t suit a lot of people. I’ve always thought of eggs as being nature’s convenience food as they are so quick and easy to cook for a meal.

What is interesting though is that my daughter in law who had digestive problems if she ate eggs is now back eating them. The reason being that they now have their own hens who run around the garden all day eating natural wild food and she has found that she is fine with these eggs. It does make you wonder what is in the eggs that don’t suit her – it must be something to do with the way they are fed.

I did once visit a farm selling free range eggs and was invited to look round a newly erected chicken shed. The farmer proudly showed me the most enormous building with a field for the chickens to run round in. What in fact happened was that very few chickens went outside. Those near the exits did but how could the birds in the centre of the building know that there was one. They had food and water to hand and thousands of other chickens between them and the exit so why bother.

I have since heard of sheds where the whole sides of the buildings lift up allowing much easier access to the outside. Sounds like a good idea but in the meantime I take care when sourcing my eggs.