CHICAGO — The American Egg Board released a new white paper examining the psychological characteristics successful comfort foods share in common.

The paper, “Comfort & Convenience: Consumers Reach for it All,” shows consumers have merged their desire for comfort foods with convenience trends. Comfort foods also may further the growing tendency toward authentic ingredients with traceability because they often are associated with familiar kitchen staples, the American Egg Board said.

“While consumers initially turned to comfort food without regard for calories, there are already indicators pointing to a return to greater health consciousness,” said Elisa Maloberti, director of egg product marketing at the American Egg Board. “The challenge for formulators is to create the comfort food texture, look and flavor within a better-for-you formulation. A functional ingredient like the egg, with its high protein content and nutritional profile, can help in this regard.”

Besides exploring the uptick in demand for comfort foods, the white paper looks at new products, nutrition research and profiles functional aspects of egg ingredients.