To address the strain on the nation’s egg supply and resultant record egg prices due to the current highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) outbreak, the National Chicken Council (NCC) petitioned the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) to reverse or modify current regulations that compel the broiler industry to discard nutritious and safe eggs.
“With government risk assessments affirming their safety, and the fact that surplus broiler hatching eggs would be pasteurized, we request the FDA to immediately exercise its enforcement discretion to allow these eggs to be sent for breaking, helping to ease costs and inflationary pressures for consumers,” said Ashley Peterson, PhD, NCC senior vice president of scientific and regulatory affairs.
NCC also petitioned the FDA early on during the current HPAI outbreak, but this petition was denied by the previous administration in 2023.
Granting NCC’s request would release almost 400 million eggs into the egg-breaking supply each year, preventing the much-coveted table eggs from having to be used as ingredients in items such as salad dressings, bread, cake mix, pasta, pancake mix, mayonnaise, ice cream, pie crusts, sauces and many other everyday food products.
“This is not a silver bullet that will bring down the cost of eggs tomorrow,” Peterson said, “but it is one option that could be part of a broader plan to help relieve some pressure on the egg supply as the situation worsens.
“It’s common sense that we shouldn’t be throwing away eggs at a time like this, especially when the government has affirmed the eggs’ safety,” she added.
“We are eager to work with the current administration to advance policies that provide relief to American consumers who are struggling with inflation and high food prices, including record egg prices exacerbated by the HPAI outbreak. An exemption to the FDA’s ‘Shell Egg Rule’ will do just that,” Peterson said.
Click here to read the full petition.
