Cholesterol in Chicken Eggs: Still a Dietary Concern for Some

In February 2015, the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee proposed to drop a longstanding recommendation that Americans restrict their dietary cholesterol intake because "available evidence shows no appreciable relationship between consumption of dietary cholesterol and serum cholesterol." Although this holds for most healthy individuals, many studies have shown that the response to changes in dietary cholesterol is heterogeneous in humans and that cholesterol consumption should be restricted by diabetics and others at risk for cardiovascular disease. As eggs are among the most cholesterol-rich foods consumed by man, the production of low-cholesterol eggs remains a viable research goal and represents a desirable dietary option for persons who need to restrict their cholesterol intake but wish to include eggs in their diet. This chapter summarizes studies linking cholesterol consumption to cardiovascular disease risk and reviews approaches to reducing the cholesterol content of shell eggs.