In light of the pressure the current highly pathogenic avian influenza outbreak is putting on the nation’s egg supply, and resulting record egg prices, the National Chicken Council has petitioned the US Food & Drug Administration to reverse or modify an Obama-era regulation that forces the broiler industry — chickens raised for meat — to discard safe eggs.

“With government risk assessments affirming their safety, and the fact that surplus broiler hatching eggs would be pasteurized (cooked), we respectfully request 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, Ph.D., NCC senior vice president of scientific and regulatory affairs.

NCC also petitioned the FDA early on during the current HPAI outbreak but was rejected by the Biden administration in 2023.

Granting NCC’s request would release almost 400 million eggs into the egg breaking supply each year, thus preventing 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.

“Is this a silver bullet that will bring down the cost of eggs tomorrow? No,” 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. And it’s just common sense we shouldn’t be throwing away eggs at a time like this, especially when the government says they’re safe.

“We are eager to get to work with the Trump 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.”

Source: National Chicken Council