KNUST develops “designer eggs” for rural children

The Department of Animal Science, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), is developing “designer eggs” specifically targeting the rural child, to assist boost their intelligence quotient and nutrition.

The “omega-3 fatty acids fortified eggs” project, is the brain child of Dr. Jacob Alhassan Hamidu, an Animal Scientist.   

The 2015 Research Report of the University said it had received 112,000.00 Canadian dollars funding under the “Stars in Global Health” programme, which supports bold ideas and high impact innovations by scientists in both low and middle income countries.

It indicated that outside Africa, people “consume omega 3 eggs and products but this comes at a high cost”.     

The university’s lead researcher, it said “seeks to find ways to make it more affordable and accessible” to children not only in the country but the rest of the continent.     

The report underlined that “flax oil and flax seed contain high levels of omega 3, which is essential for brain development and helps reduce cardiovascular diseases in adults”.  

It was with this in mind that that, Dr. Hamidu decided to focus on children, convinced that “if we could dispense omega 3 through eggs compared to the practice of giving pills as nutrition intervention, we could increase its acceptability among rural people”.   

“The designer eggs would then be more acceptable; and accessibility and consumption would be increased since children love eggs”, it added.      

The average Ghanaian is estimated to consume between 12 and 18 eggs in a year and this needs to radically increase, considering the enormous nutritional benefits of eggs – a very good source of inexpensive, high quality protein.

Source: GNA