**1. Introduction**

Population growth varied social conditions, and economic differences in the world have an impact on food supply. Between 1960 and 2020, the world population increased from 3.0 to 7.8 billion, equivalent to 157%. Therefore, it is estimated that between 2020 and 2050, there will be a further increase of 2 billion inhabitants, so the impact on food security will represent a significant challenge. So much so that its importance is already considered within the 2nd Sustainable Development Goal of the United Nations' (UN) "zero hunger" concept [1]. For its part, the pandemic of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2, or SARS-CoV2 [2], confirmed the close connection between humans and animals; however, the phylogeny of the virus is still under investigation since the factors involved in its dispersal have not yet been fully resolved. Therefore, this example highlights the importance of the "One Health" concept as a unified and integrated approach that seeks to balance and sustainably optimize the health of people, animals, and ecosystems [3].

Given the global outlook on the deficit of food availability, table eggs represent a source of easily accessible, inexpensive, self-packed protein, which provides a source of highly digestible protein with a homogeneous balance of amino acids; thus, it is considered a food guarantee, since it has no religious barriers in its consumption, and has low production cost due to the high feed efficiency of the hens. Table egg production has increased significantly in recent years, with China contributing 1136.4 million cases of eggs, India 270.2, the United States of America (USA) 263.6, Brazil 146, and Mexico with 132.9 million cases (**Figure 1**), representing the countries with the highest production. It should be noted that each carton of eggs contains 360 units, equivalent to 30 dozen eggs. In 2018, world production was 76.7 million t; therefore, if this value is divided by the 7.6 billion people in the world, the result is a consumption of 161 eggs/person/year. The main consuming countries are Mexico with 23.7 kg *per capita*/year, Japan with 21.3 kg *per capita*/year, and Colombia with 20.3 kg *per capita*/ year. Another significant fact is that consumption does not depend on large demographics, as China has a consumption of 255 eggs/person/year, India 76 eggs/person/ year and the European Union (EU) with 210 eggs/person/year (**Figure 2**) [4].

After World War II, livestock production systems evolved. Before the war, production was done in the backyard for self-consumption; in the post-war period, agriculture faced a crisis, due to the low number of workers in the primary sector. In response, from the 1980s to 1990s, egg production via cage production systems increased. In that same decade of the 1990s, consumers requested that Livestock Production Units implement the concept of "Animal Welfare", which is why the poultry industry producing table eggs implemented other production systems, which attempted to satisfy the five

**Figure 1.** *Main table egg producing countries.*

*Natural Products as an Alternative to Formaldehyde for Disinfection of Fertile Eggs… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.112568*

**Figure 2.** *Main fresh egg consuming countries.*

freedoms: (i) absence of hunger, (ii) absence of thirst, (iii) possibility of movement, (iv) absence of fear, and (v) expression of natural animal behavior [5].
