The egg has been a part of the human diet for most of civilized existence. There are few, if any, religious taboos. Nutritionally, eggs have been described as “nature's perfect food” because the fertile egg contains all of the nutrients required to develop a living chick. Eggs are particularly valuable for growing children, and also for older people with a limited appetite. In both cases, they provide valuable nutrients necessary for either growth or body maintenance and repair. However, in the late twentieth century, eggs as human food faced a variety of challenges in the marketplace. These had nothing to do with nutritional value, but with, firstly, cholesterol, and secondly, internal bacterial contamination. Much less important, but still significant, was the finding that a few people, mainly infants, demonstrated allergies to some egg proteins. 
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