Scrambled, boiled, poached or fried, how do you like your eggs? Today, October 9, is World Egg Day.

The first World Egg Day was established by the International Egg Commission in 1996 to celebrate the benefits of eggs.

Eggs have been described by nutritionists as nature’s large vitamin pill – a mineral cocktail; they contain many of the essential vitamins and minerals required for a healthy diet.

According to Bord Bia, Ireland is now producing 551m eggs annually and sales of eggs are on the rise, with Irish consumers spending €103m per year.

A recent study by Kantar Worldpanel revealed that Irish people are buying 7% more eggs than they were last year, buying eggs more frequently and in bigger volumes.

Frequency of egg purchase is up 2.5%, while packs of 10 or more eggs account for 60% of all egg sales in 2015, which is a 6% increase on 2014, according to Bord Bia.

Here are a dozen hard-boiled facts on eggs from the Egg Nutrition Centre: