Poultry farmers say their eggs can help drive prices down

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — US chicken producers want to do their part to bring down the current skyrocketing egg prices by selling 400 million surplus eggs to food producers.

But first, they must convince the FDA to change the rule banning the use of eggs laid by chickens in the meat industry for human consumption.

Egg prices have risen over the past year due to an ongoing outbreak of bird flu and the highest inflation in decades, prompting calls for an investigation into price gouging. The national average retail price for a dozen eggs reached $4.25 in December, up from $1.79 a year earlier, according to the latest government data.

On Thursday, the National Chicken Council’s trade group filed a formal petition with the Food and Drug Administration asking officials to lift a rule passed in 2009 that prevents chicken producers from selling surplus eggs because they are not refrigerated immediately.

“Already facing record egg prices, consumers could hit their wallets even more as we head into the Easter season unless the FDA provides us with a way to put those eggs to good use,” said Ashley Peterson, senior vice president of the trade group. scientific and regulatory affairs.

The bird flu outbreak had a huge impact on egg prices because more than 43 million of the 58 million birds that were slaughtered to fight the spread of the virus were laying hens. But egg producers are also grappling with high feed, fuel and labor costs that have driven up prices.

It’s not clear exactly how much of an impact on prices chicken egg producers who want to sell can have because the US produces roughly 100 billion eggs a year, so adding another 400 million to the market may not have much of an effect.

The FDA said it would review the Chicken Council’s petition and respond directly to the group. But concerns about food safety led them to pass a rule against selling eggs in the first place.

When the broiler hatchery produces eggs, they are kept at 65 degrees until they are ready to be placed in the hatchers. The FDA stated in its rule that eggs to be used as food must be kept below 45 degrees for 36 hours.

The chicken council said it believed the eggs would be safe as they would be pasteurized before being used by food manufacturers. Eggs that are not needed by chicken producers to produce more chickens for meat production will not be sold to consumers in grocery stores. Instead, they will go to food processors and processed eggs that are sold to bakers and other food companies.

The Chicken Board estimates that this FDA rule banning the sale of these eggs is costing poultry farmers about $27 million a year because the eggs are currently either thrown away, recycled, or used as animal feed.

But trade group United Egg Producers said it would be a bad idea to relax food safety regulations to allow the sale of these eggs laid by chicken producers.

“Egg safety is always a priority for US egg producers, as is strict compliance with all food safety regulations,” said Oscar Garrison, Egg Trade Group Vice President for Food Safety Regulation. “United Egg Producers opposes the National Chicken Council’s motion because it doesn’t meet the egg safety rule.”

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