American Egg Board funded $2 million in nutrition research in 2010

During 2010, the American Egg Board's Egg Nutrition Center funded a record $2 million for nutrition research and awarded grants to faculty at several universities, according to the board's annual report.
Roughly 13% of the AEB's expenditures came from nutrition campaigns, while 12% went to agriculture education and 12% went to state support and industry programs (6% each). Recipients of the grants included the University of Connecticut, the Yale-Griffin Prevention Research Center, San Diego State University, Austin University School of Medicine and the Baylor College of Medicine. Advertising took up the largest percentage of expenditures (38%), market communications claimed 7% and food service and egg product marketing each accounted for 4% of expenditures.
The board also focused on egg safety, working with the United Egg Producers to develop an Egg Safety Crisis Plan. The AEB reallocated $1 million from existing programs for a campaign to regain consumer confidence following the egg recall in August 2010. The AEB then created the Social Media Crisis Response Plan, and it was also intended to establish a parallel Crisis Protection Plan. Efforts included advertisements in USA Today, Wall Street Journal and the New York Times, as well as statements on egg safety through various media outlets. The AEB said that these efforts “played a key role in minimizing erosion of consumer demand.”
Total revenue for the AEB amounted to $21.23 million, while total expenditures reached $24.65 million — representing a deficit of $3.4 million for the year. As of the end of 2010, the AEB had total assets of $12.47 million with an accumulated excess of revenue over operating expenses of $10.3 million. The deficit between revenue and expenditure was funded from accumulated funds.