'Sunshine Egg': A novel and healthier vitamin D enriched food (Agri-Tech Catalyst - Experimental Development Project)

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Vitamin D deficiency is a common public health problem within the UK. As vitamin D is found in significant amounts in few foods there is an urgent need to develop higher vitamin D containing foods, which will increase vitamin D nutritional intake of the population. The aim of the proposal is to develop vitamin D-enriched eggs which will have significantly higher vitamin D content than eggs currently available. There is scientific information that this may be achieved by manipulating hen diet. We will achieve our aim by conducting industry scale feeding trials in hens, where we will manipulate the dietary composition of feed while adhering to strict European feed guidelines. The beneficiaries of this project will be the project partners and the UK egg industry who will benefit economically from the project outcomes, the wider public will be provided with a rich source of vitamin D and the health and welfare of the laying hen population who may benefit from increasing vitamin D feed composition.