Interesting Facts

Experiments carried out at the University of California have shown you can unboil an egg. (Scientists have figured out how to pull apart the proteins in cooked egg whites, and allow them to refold into their original shape. I don't really know whether I would want to uncook my breakfast.) Source

In new legislation, restaurants and takeaways across Europe will be required by law to tell customers if their food contains ingredients known to trigger allergies. (The new rules also apply to meals served in bakeries, cafes, care homes and any packaged produce sold by supermarkets. Remember the nuts? Well it's not just nuts:- The list of ingredients includes:- celery - including any found in stock cubes and soup cereals containing gluten - including spelt, wheat, rye, barley crustaceans - e.g. crabs, lobster, prawns and shrimp paste eggs - including food glazed with egg fish lupin - can be found in some types of bread, pastries, pasta milk molluscs - mussels, land snails, squid, also found in oyster sauce mustard nuts - for example almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts, macadamia peanuts - also found in groundnut oil sesame seeds - found in some bread, houmous, tahini soya - found in beancurd, edamame beans, tofu sulphur dioxide - used as a preservative in drie...

According to the 2012 league table of food and drink costs, Britain pays more for food and alcohol than most of Europe. ( The staples, milk, cheese and eggs are 7% more expensive and across all food and non-alcoholic drinks, the UK pays 4% above the EU27. In the same study, Norway came out as the most expensive for food and drink and Macedonia the cheapest. All this came as no surprise to me; doing a food shop in the UK is always more expensive than Germany, but the biggest surprise is alcohol in the UK is around 43% above the European Union average, in France alcohol costs are 12% below the average and Germany 18%  lower. However, this is not why I moved to Germany.)

According to an article from the Sun newspaper, Police canteens in the UK serve mostly junk food and it's all subsidised by the tax payer. (In Humberside, a fry-up is £3.80 for “ten items, including bacon, sausage, eggs, beans and crumpets." Lunch choices in Cumbria include scampi and chips, burger and chips and deep-fried spicy battered chicken, all for £3.20, which wouldn't buy you a sandwich in a normal cafe. In Herts a pizza costs £2.35, and Manchester sells pies for £1.12. I think I'll have the chicken piri piri and rice from the Met. I visited the website to see if I could find the price, and it told me it uses cookies (I bet it does.))

According to a survey conducted by Mindlab International for the British Egg Industry Council, the way you eat your eggs can reflect your personality. (The study found that the average poached egg-eater is likely to be happier than most.  Boiled egg-eaters run the greatest risk of getting divorced. Fried egg fans are usually from the skilled working class and scrambled eggs are favoured by those without children.  They call it the eggs factor, which should indicate how seriously this should be taken.)

Penguins can be gay. (Two Gentoo penguins, Inca and Rayas, at a zoo in Madrid, Spain, have been building a nest together every six years in the hope of starting a family. They have now been given their own egg to look after. Inca and Rayas aren't the first gay penguins to hit the news, and homosexual behaviour in penguins was first recorded in 1910, by polar explorer, Dr. George Murray Levick, but his account wasn't published as it was deemed "too shocking". Funnily the zoo keeper who looks after them said that although the pair were extremely close, they were not actually gay, but simply "the best of friends".  I call that being in denial.) Source

A chick on a farm in on a farm in Sri Lanka was recently born without an egg. (Normally eggs are passed out of a hen's body and incubated outside until the chick hatches. However, in this case, the egg was incubated inside the hen for 21 days before hatching. Unfortunately the poor hen died from the birth, but the chick survived and is said to be healthy and fully formed. Of course this all means that the age old conundrum of which came first - the chicken or the egg has finally been answered.) Source

Male mosquitoes don't bite. (Both male and female mosquitoes drink nectar for energy, and the female mosquito is thought to need to feed on blood in order to obtain the necessary protein for eggs to develop. So, the female of the species really is deadlier than the male.)

A healthy queen bee can lay about 2,000 eggs a day during the spring. (This is more than her own bodyweight in eggs every day. Women always have to work hard.) Source - Wikipedia

According to a study published in the International Journal of Obesity a fried breakfast of sausages, eggs, bacon, beans, mushrooms, black pudding and tomatoes is a healthier way to start the day than a bowl of cereal. (I know you're thinking "April Fool", but the theory is that a fatty breakfast will help you stop snacking during the day and you will eat less at night.  Now where did I put that plate of bacon and eggs?)

Olympic swimmers can consume more than 12,000 calories a day while training - and not get fat. (Michael Phelp's diet consists of the following:- Breakfast: Three fried egg sandwiches; cheese; tomatoes; lettuce; fried onions; mayonnaise; three chocolate-chip pancakes; five-egg omelette; three sugar-coated slices of French toast; bowl of grits; two cups of coffee Lunch: Half a kilo (one pound) of enriched pasta; two large ham and cheese sandwiches with mayonnaise on white bread; energy drinks Dinner: Half a kilo of pasta, with carbonara sauce; large pizza; energy drinks. I think I just put on a couple of pounds just reading this list.)

Eggs need to reach a temperature of 144 to 158 degrees Fahrenheit before they’ll turn from a liquid to a solid. (So, people who say "It’s hot enough to fry an an egg on the pavement," are usually ‘eggs’aggerating!)

An ostrich egg takes four hours to hard boil. (Got to get up early for breakfast then.)

The shell makes up 12% of an eggs total mass.