# Ovaltine = "it's got eggs". Really? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 11, 2007, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ovaltine-its-got-eggs-really/387481 "2007-01-11T00:47:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![SSgtBaloo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ac91a4/32.png) [@SSgtBaloo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SSgtBaloo)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2007, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ovaltine-its-got-eggs-really/387481/1 "2007-01-11T00:47:21Z")
The topic of ovaltine arose the other day when I was taking to my mom. She sez that _Ovaltine_ got its name because it contained eggs. Her logic being that Ova = eggs. I happen to like ovaltine now & then (original malt flavored) and I’ve searched the label. No eggs. I told ma this and she said that “they took the eggs out when people started complaining they were allergic to eggs”. That makes as much sense to me as making peanut butter from watermelon because some folks are allergic to peanuts. Just how did Ovaltine get it’s name? ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2007, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ovaltine-its-got-eggs-really/387481/2 "2007-01-11T00:52:55Z")
[Mom wins](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ovaltine) > [@](#): > > It was developed in Switzerland, where it is known by its original name, Ovomaltine (from ovum, Latin for “egg”, and malt, originally its main ingredients). > > … > > Originally advertised as consisting solely of “malt, milk, eggs, flavored with cocoa”, the formulation has changed over the decades (at one point containing irradiated yeast in the US), and today several different formulations are sold in different parts of the world, to meet nutritional needs specific to those regions. ---
**Author:** ![danceswithcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9e8a1a/32.png) [@danceswithcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danceswithcats)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2007, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ovaltine-its-got-eggs-really/387481/3 "2007-01-11T00:55:48Z")
**Q.E.D.** was faster with his Wiki search. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![SSgtBaloo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ac91a4/32.png) [@SSgtBaloo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SSgtBaloo)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2007, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ovaltine-its-got-eggs-really/387481/4 "2007-01-11T00:58:20Z")
Thanks! That was quick. ---
**Author:** ![Blue\_Mood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac91a4/32.png) [@Blue\_Mood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blue_Mood)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2007, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ovaltine-its-got-eggs-really/387481/5 "2007-01-11T13:43:57Z")
In the UK it still contains eggs. ---
**Author:** ![mr.jp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/48db29/32.png) [@mr.jp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mr.jp)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2007, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ovaltine-its-got-eggs-really/387481/6 "2007-01-11T14:02:53Z")
I know a killer bit about this subject. Killer. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2007, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ovaltine-its-got-eggs-really/387481/7 "2007-01-11T16:32:54Z")
Not meaning to hijack too badly, but speaking of killer… I used to have a photocopy of an ancient ad for Ovaltine that proclaimed “Prophylactic Against Asbestosis!” Has anyone else seen this? ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2007, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ovaltine-its-got-eggs-really/387481/8 "2007-01-11T18:39:25Z")
[QUOTE=mr. jp] I know a killer bit about this subject. Killer. [/QUOTE] Go away Kenny. I don’t want a suit from you either. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2007, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ovaltine-its-got-eggs-really/387481/9 "2007-01-11T19:20:20Z")
I don’t know how many locations produce the stuff (Novartis) but one of them was just across the traintracks from where I worked. You could smell the stuff when you were outside. We’d walk out of work saying “mmmm, ovaltine!”