What percentage of adults consume eggs/omelets and egg sandwiches, and does it differ by sex or age?

On any given day, 19% of adults consume eggs as an individual item or in omelets and 8% consume an egg sandwich (data not shown). Prevalence of consumption of eggs/omelets does not differ by sex (Figure 1; p> 0.001); however, males are more likely to consume an egg sandwich on the intake day relative to females. The percentage of adults consuming eggs/omelets and egg sandwiches is not statistically different by age for all adults or within sex (data not shown).

Figure 1

Prevalence (%) of consumption of eggs/omelets and egg sandwiches among adults age 20+ years by sex, WWEIA, NHANES 2017 – March 2020. ^a,bWithin egg category, estimates with different superscripts differ by sex (p<0.001) based on a two-sided (more...)

Does consumption of eggs/omelets and egg sandwiches differ by race/ethnicity or family income?

Hispanic adults are more likely to consume eggs/omelets on the intake day than are non-Hispanic (NH) white and NH Black adults (Figure 2). On the other hand, the percentage of adults reporting egg sandwiches does not differ by race/ethnic group.

No differences are seen in the prevalence of either egg category by family income (Figure 3).

Figure 2

Prevalence (%) of consumption of eggs/omelets and egg sandwiches among adults age 20+ years, by race/ethnicity, WWEIA, NHANES 2017 – March 2020. ^a,bWithin egg category, percentage estimates with different superscripts differ by race/ethnicity (more...)

Figure 3

Prevalence (%) of consumption of eggs/omelets and egg sandwiches among adults age 20+ years, by family income as % of poverty level, WWEIA, NHANES 2017- March 2020.

From what sources are eggs/omelets and egg sandwiches obtained?

Grocery stores account for the largest percentage of reports of eggs/omelets and egg sandwiches by adults at 74% and 45%, respectively (Figure 4). In addition, fast food restaurants are the source of about one-third of all egg sandwich reports, but only 2% of eggs/omelets reports. Consequently, it is not surprising that twice as many egg sandwiches are consumed away from home (47%) as compared to eggs/omelets (23%; data not shown).

Figure 4

Percentage (%) of egg/omelet and egg sandwich reports by source, adults age 20+ years, WWEIA, NHANES 2017- March 2020. ³Includes supermarkets, warehouse clubs, specialty stores, and ethnic food stores. ⁴Includes restaurant with waiter/waitress service; (more...)

At what eating occasions are eggs/omelets and egg sandwiches consumed?

Seventy-five percent of reports of eggs- both eggs/omelets and egg sandwiches- are consumed at breakfast, with lunch accounting for a distant second (Figure 5).

Figure 5

Percentage (%) of egg/omelet and egg sandwich reports by eating occasion at which they are consumed, adults age 20+ years, WWEIA, NHANES 2017- March 2020.

How much energy do eggs/omelets and egg sandwiches provide to adults who consume them?

As shown in Table 1, among both males and females, the mean energy contribution from egg sandwiches is more than double that of eggs/omelets. The examples suggest the reason. The non-egg components inherent to most sandwiches (e.g., bread, cheese, and meat) all contain substantial energy, boosting their caloric contribution. Only 6% of eggs/omelets consumers obtain a quarter or more of their total daily energy intake from foods in that category; among egg sandwich consumers, that percentage is 32% (data not shown).

Table 1

Mean daily contribution to energy per consumer of eggs/omelets and egg sandwiches and examples, adults 20+ years WWEIA, NHANES 2017 – March 2020.

Does total daily intake of nutrients per 1,000 kilocalories differ between consumers and non-consumers of eggs/omelets and egg sandwiches?

Total daily intake of protein, total fat, saturated fat, monounsaturated fat, cholesterol, and vitamin A, choline, and D are higher whereas carbohydrate and added sugars are lower among consumers of eggs/omelets relative to non-consumers on a 1,000 kilocalorie basis (Table 2). Fewer differences are seen among egg sandwich consumers and non-consumers.

Table 2

Mean daily intake from all foods and beverages of select nutrients per 1,000 kilocalories among consumers of eggs/omelets and egg sandwiches, adults age 20+ years, 2017 – March 2020.

How much do eggs/omelets and egg sandwiches contribute to mean daily intakes of energy and nutrients among adults who consume them?

As shown in Figure 7, both eggs/omelets and egg sandwiches provide notable percentages of daily intake of protein, total fat, saturated fat, and particularly cholesterol and choline among adults who consume them. They also account for 25% or more of daily intake of vitamins A and D, nutrients that are broadly underconsumed in the U.S. diet (5). Moreover, the non-egg ingredients of egg sandwiches explain the contributions to carbohydrate and dietary fiber (bread), calcium (cheese) and saturated fat and sodium (cheese, cured meats such as sausage) attributed to these foods.

Figure 7

Percentage (%) contributions of eggs/omelets and egg sandwiches to mean daily intakes of energy and selected nutrients among consumers, adults age 20+ years, 2017 – March 2020. ¹See definition of “eggs” on page 8. ^†Estimate (more...)

Definitions

Consumer/non-consumer

In general, adults who consumed eggs as eggs/omelets and/or an egg sandwich on the intake day were considered a “consumer,” whereas those who did not were considered a “non-consumer.” A total of 1,548 adults were classified as consumers of eggs/omelets (790 males and 758 females), and 571 were consumers of egg sandwiches (322 males and 249 females). Classification as a consumer or non-consumer for this analysis has no implications as to habitual consumption.

Eating occasion

Designated by the respondent, eating occasions with the following English and Spanish names were grouped together: breakfast, desayano, and almuerzo; lunch, brunch, and comida; dinner, supper, and cena; and snack, drink, merienda, entre comida, botana, bocadillo, tentempie, bebida, and items consumed over an extended period of time. The time an eating occasion occurs has no implications as to its type, e.g., breakfast occasions could occur at all times of day and night.

Eggs

For this report, refers to items that are included in the What We Eat in America (WWEIA) Food Categories “Eggs and omelets” and “Egg/breakfast sandwiches” (see definition of “WWEIA Food Categories” below). Among adults 20+ years, these two Categories account for 78% of egg consumption, as measured in egg ounce equivalents (see definition of Food Patterns component- eggs” below). Notable exclusions from this analysis are eggs that 1) are a distinct component in a multi-component food other than sandwiches (e.g., a boiled egg in a garden salad; 3% of all egg consumed), or 2) serve as a functional ingredient (19% of all egg consumed). Eggs are included as functional ingredients in a variety of foods, including bakery products (e.g., cakes, cookies), bread items (e.g., waffles, dumplings), sauces and condiments (e.g., Hollandaise sauce, mayonnaise), coatings on meat and vegetables (e.g., chicken nuggets/tenders, vegetable tempura), and mixed dishes (e.g., meat loaf, lasagna).

Family income (as percentage of poverty level)

The ratio of family income to poverty expressed as a percentage. The Department of Health and Human Services’ poverty guidelines, which are based upon the number of persons in the family/household, were used as the poverty measure to calculate the ratio (6).

Food Patterns component-eggs

As described at https://www.ars.usda.gov/nea/bhnrc/fsrg/fped, the Food Patterns Equivalents Database defines all foods and beverages reported in WWEIA, NHANES in terms of amounts of 37 Food Patterns (FP) components. Translating intakes to FP components permits them to be evaluated with respect to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (5). The Protein Foods group, of which eggs are included, are measured in ounce equivalents. Egg intake in ounce equivalents, inclusive of egg in all foods, is available on the FSRG website at https://www.ars.usda.gov/nea/bhnrc/fsrg/fpeddatatables.

Kilocalories

Scientific unit used in reporting the energy content of food; shortened to “calories” in casual usage in the U.S.

WWEIA Food Categories

Available at https://www.ars.usda.gov/nea/bhnrc/fsrg/wweia_categories, classifies each food and beverage reported in WWEIA, NHANES into one of 169 mutually exclusive categories. In contrast to the Categories’ item-by-item classification, this analysis classified as a group any foods that were represented in the dietary data by two or more items linked as having been consumed together into the most appropriate WWEIA Food Category. For example, if an egg sandwich was represented in the dietary data as white bread, butter, fried egg, and cheese, all these components would be assigned to the “egg sandwiches/breakfast sandwich” WWEIA Food Category along with similar items that were not represented by multiple foods, e.g., an item that assigned the food code 34001110 “Egg sandwich on white bread with cheese.” It is important to note that breakfast sandwiches that do not include egg (e.g., sausage biscuit) were excluded from this analysis. Consequently, in this brief, this category is termed “Egg sandwiches.”

Data source

Estimates in this data brief are based on one day of dietary intake data from WWEIA, NHANES 2017-March 2020 Prepandemic (7). Day 1 dietary data were collected in person using the 5-step USDA Automated Multiple-Pass Method for the 24-hour recall. A total of 7,707 individuals 20 years of age and older (3,745 males and 3,962 females) provided complete and reliable dietary intake data. Pregnant (n = 77) and lactating (n = 54) females were retained. In the race-specific analyses (see page 2), individuals who were multi-racial or of a racial group other than those listed (368 adults, of whom 61 were consumers of eggs/omelets and 33 were consumers of an egg sandwich) were excluded. Likewise, in the income-specific analyses (also on page 2), individuals with missing family income information (971 adults, of whom 203 were consumers of eggs/omelets and 74 were consumers of an egg sandwich) were excluded. Sample weights were applied in all analyses to produce estimates that were representative of the U.S. population for the years of collection. Intakes of energy and nutrients were calculated using the 2017-2018 and 2019-2020 versions of USDA’s Food and Nutrient Database for Dietary Studies (4). Intake of added sugars was calculated using the Food Patterns Equivalents Database for Use with WWEIA, NHANES 2017- March 2020 Prepandemic (8).

References

1.

USDA Agricultural Research Service. Food Data Central. https://fdc​.nal.usda.gov. Accessed November 1, 2024.

2.

Walker S, Baum JI. Eggs as an affordable source of nutrients for adults and children living in food-insecure environments. Nutr Rev. 2022;80(2):178–186. doi:10.1093/nutrit/nuab019. [PubMed: 34027973] [CrossRef]

3.

Papanikolaou Y, Fulgoni VL 3^rd. Eggs are cost-efficient in delivering several shortfall nutrients in the American diet: A cost-analysis in children and adults. Nutrients. 2020;12(8)2406. Published 2020 Aug 11. doi:10.3390/nu12082406. [PMC free article: PMC7469040] [PubMed: 32796704] [CrossRef]

4.

USDA Food Surveys Research Group. FNDDS Documentation and Databases. www​.ars.usda.gov/fsrg/fndds/download. Accessed November 4, 2024.

5.

U.S. Department of Agriculture and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Dietary Guidelines 2020-2025. 9th edition. December 2020. Available at: https://www​.dietaryguidelines.gov Accessed December 17, 2024.

6.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation. Poverty guidelines. https://aspe​.hhs.gov/poverty-guidelines. Accessed November 12, 2024.

7.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics. NHANES Questionnaires, Datasets, and Related Documentation. https://wwwn​.cdc.gov/nchs/nhanes/. Accessed December 17, 2024.

8.

USDA Food Surveys Research Group. Food Patterns Equivalents Databases and SAS Datasets. www​.ars.usda.gov/fsrg/fped/download. Accessed November 4, 2024.

Sebastian RS, Crawford SB, Moshfegh AJ. Consumption of Eggs/Omelets and Egg Sandwiches by U.S. Adults: What We Eat in America, NHANES 2017- March 2020. Food Surveys Research Group Dietary Data Brief No. 66. May 2025.