Latest news with #Eggland
Yahoo
12-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Egg Prices Are Skyrocketing—But Why Are Some Cage-Free Ones Cheaper Than Regular?
All products featured on Self are independently selected by Self editors. However, when you buy something through our retail links, Condé Nast may earn an affiliate commission. leekris/Adobe Stock If you've been to the supermarket recently, you might have noticed a couple interesting things in the refrigerated section: For one, many of the shelves that once contained cartons upon cartons of eggs are now bare. And if you're lucky enough to find the breakfast staple in stock, you might be met with a surprising form of sticker shock: Eggs that have historically been more expensive, like organic, cage-free, free-range, and pasture-raised varieties, are often now actually on par with—or even cheaper than—the regular options, which have skyrocketed in cost. For example, on a recent trip to a Giant in Pennsylvania, we noticed large white eggs selling for $7.30 a dozen, while the cage-free option was just $4.95. You could write it off as an isolated fluke, but we did some digging and found similar trends at other major chains. As of press time, Shoprite lists Bowl & Basket–brand extra-large fresh white eggs for $7.69 a dozen—20 cents more than an 18-count pack (that's 50% more of 'em!) of cage-free large white eggs ($7.49). Meanwhile, Walmart is selling Great Value-brand jumbo white eggs for $6.82 a dozen, compared to Eggland's Best-brand cage-free large brown eggs ($6.06) and Eggland's Best-brand organic-certified large brown eggs ($6.14). Other disgruntled egg enthusiasts have questioned the discrepancy on Reddit, too: 'Why are some eggs suddenly super expensive, but my usual organic free range eggs are still $5?' one user asked. Why indeed—and what, if anything, does the increase in egg prices have to do with the current egg shortage? We reached out to a few experts to find out. In short, you can consider it a direct consequence of bird flu, the 'most critical issue' affecting the market, Tom Tabler, PhD, a professor of animal science at the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture, tells SELF. To quickly recap: In the last three years, outbreaks of H5N1 bird flu have ravaged the US's poultry flocks and dairy herds, killing many birds and forcing farmers to cull those that might have been exposed. Close to 158 million birds had been affected as of February 11, according to the CDC. 'Aside from the public health threat' posed by these outbreaks, 'this is really going to impact supply chains,' Scott Roberts, MD, an infectious diseases expert and assistant professor at the Yale School of Medicine, tells SELF. So far, the US has lost around a quarter of its population of table egg-laying chickens (a.k.a 'table egg layers'), dealing a devastating blow to the egg industry, according to Dr. Tabler. 'Usually, we have somewhere between 375 and 400 million layers laying eggs at any one time,' he says. 'Right now, we only have about 300 million laying eggs.' Stats reflect that decline: Egg production fell to a five-year low of 9.1 billion dozen in 2022, down from 9.4 billion dozen in 2019, according to the USDA. Fewer hens equals fewer eggs equals higher prices. It's simple supply and demand: When there's less of a commodity to go around, its value increases. In one recent example of this, the diner chain Waffle House added a 50-cent surcharge to every egg sold to account for the rising costs, per the AP. So yes, the cost of eggs in general has spiked. At the beginning of 2024, a dozen averaged about $2.50, per the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, and increased to $4.15 by the end of the year. In a February 7 USDA report, the organization listed the most recent average cost at $7.34 a dozen. Good to know, but our original question still remains: Why has the price of organic, cage-free, free-range, and pasture-raised eggs stayed relatively stable as the price of regular eggs has skyrocketed? It's actually pretty straightforward: Chickens used to lay those kinds of eggs haven't been hit as hard as those responsible for the regular type, according to Dr. Tabler. It's not that higher-end layers are less susceptible—in fact, chickens that have access to the outdoors (like free-range and pasture-raised flocks) are actually more likely to come into contact with potential disease vectors like wildlife, Dr. Tabler says. 'There's more disease risk outside than there is inside the chicken house,' he explains. Rather, it's a ruthless numbers game that comes down to a difference in scale. Farming operations that produce regular eggs are often a whole lot larger than those that produce varieties like organic, cage-free, free-range, and pasture-raised—they're 'huge,' in Dr. Tabler's words. 'And by 'huge,'' he says, 'I mean there may be three million, four million, five million head of chickens laying eggs all on one site in multiple barns.' Because federal guidelines mandate culling an entire flock if even a single bird tests positive for bird flu, an outbreak among regular layers therefore means far more birds have to be euthanized—'depopulated,' to use USDA terminology—so the impact on egg production is proportionally much greater. 'It's not so much that the high-end eggs have come down in price,' Dr. Tabler explains. 'It's that regular eggs have increased dramatically in price.' And unfortunately, the spike doesn't seem likely to ease anytime soon, according to Dr. Roberts. In fact, he says, things are only worsening month-to-month—and accordingly, egg prices will probably continue to increase for the foreseeable future. Dr. Tabler is similarly pessimistic. 'Before the avian influenza outbreak started, eggs cost $1.79 a dozen in December 2021,' he says. 'I was in California helping USDA dispose of avian influenza-infected flocks in late December 2024, and eggs were $8.97 a dozen.' Even the USDA predicts that prices will rise an additional 20.3% in 2025. What's more, Dr. Roberts is concerned that the recent federal shift in power—and the 'really scaling back a lot of public health funding' that came with it—could exacerbate the problem. And science communication, which is obviously especially vital in times of outbreak, could take a hit, too: In an unprecedented move, federal public health communications were recently paused, stalling the release of several bird flu studies, as reported by CBS. Ultimately, 'we don't know where this is going to end,' Dr. Roberts says. While there are still a lot of unknowns—and a lot of factors, like prices, remain out of your control—you can still take some steps to stay safe from the eggs you do eat: mainly, practicing good food safety. Separate raw poultry and eggs from ready-to-eat stuff, like leftovers, fruits, and vegetables. Make sure to cook poultry and eggs thoroughly before digging in—hitting an internal temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit will kill off any lurking viruses or bacteria, including bird flu viruses. And if you just can't bring yourself to shell out all that extra cash for your regular ol' eggs? That's okay. We're pretty sure you'll find a suitable alternative in this robust list of high-protein breakfasts that are completely egg-free. Related: 8 Things Food Safety Experts Would Never Do in Their Own Kitchens How to 'Fridgescape' to Keep Your Food Safe, Save Money, and Actually Get Organized Are Those Squiggly White Things in Your Berries Actually Worms? Get more of SELF's great food coverage delivered right to your inbox—for free. Originally Appeared on Self
Yahoo
06-02-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Fact Check: Look out for this message about fictional recall on chicken, eggs
Claim: In February 2025, the U.S. was experiencing a recall on chicken and Eggland's Best eggs. Rating: In early February 2025, people were sharing a message (archived) with an alleged warning against buying chicken and Eggland's Best eggs in the U.S. because of a supposed recall. The message read: FYI: Sharing information that was just shared with me. DO NOT BUY CHICKEN!!! Please tell your family and friends! The president has paused all announcements and communications from the CDC, FDA, etc., until 2/1 and there is a hugggggheeeeeee recall on chicken and eggland eggs that is NOT being properly announced to the public. (Sound familiar... remember the COVID delayed Announcement?) Please, please, please, DO NOT BUY CHICKEN, or please do your own research before you do. A friend works for CDC, and she confirmed this. Pass it on! Please My contact said: The bird flu is happening and there are some confirmed cases in the United States. Some versions of the message had slight variations, such as changing the communications pause date from "2/1" to "2/15," or saying that the information came from a "friend who works for the White House." The message can be split into the following claims: The U.S. government has issued a large recall on chicken and Eggland's Best eggs. The recall is not being publicized due to an alleged mandate by U.S. President Donald Trump to freeze communications from public health organizations like the Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The purported recall is apparently related to an outbreak of bird flu. While that outbreak was based in reality — it began in 2022 and has led to a small number of human cases of bird flu in 10 states — the message's warning against buying chicken and eggs was not. The message had several indications of being misinformation. Firstly, it incorrectly stated that the FDA and CDC were responsible for the recall. In reality, the U.S. Department of Agriculture is in charge of recalls for chicken and egg products, while the FDA is in charge of recalls for shell eggs. Furthermore, the author of the message was unknown. The text simply cited an unnamed "friend" who supposedly works at the CDC — again, an agency that does not handle food recalls — as its purported source, though, due to their anonymity, it was impossible to verify their existence or involvement. The message also claimed an order by Trump paused communications from public health agencies, and that the purported pause was preventing people from knowing about the suppressed recall. Several reputable news outlets reported that the Trump administration ordered a freeze on such communications (Snopes could not independently confirm the memo's authenticity). However, the memo's pause ended on Feb. 1, 2025, and made exceptions for messages that could affect people's health. Furthermore, the USDA replied to Snopes' request for comment about the recall — discrediting the assertion that the federal government was suppressing information about it — and said the agency has not stopped issuing recall alerts for products under its jurisdiction. The reference to a communication pause stemmed from a purported memo sent under Trump that ordered a freeze on "many federal health agency communications," according to reputable news outlets including The Associated Press. CBS News and NPR published a copy of the memo, which said the freeze lasted until Feb. 1 and affected agencies in the Department of Health and Human Services, including the FDA and CDC. The memo provided an exception for any communications that might "affect critical health, safety, environmental, financial or national security functions of the Department." Presumably, a large food recall like the one described in the viral message would fall under that category. While the FDA did not reply to Snopes' request for comment on the issue, the USDA, which is directly in charge of recalls on meat, poultry and certain egg products, did. A spokesperson said via email that the agency has continued releasing recall and public health alerts on its website for products under its jurisdiction, including meat (and catfish), poultry and all non-shelled egg products. The USDA has issued three such alerts, including two recalls, since Trump took office on Jan. 20, 2025: warnings about a "foreign matter contamination" in certain sausage, an "extraneous material contamination" in a specific type of breaded chicken nuggets and potential misbranding of other chicken products. None of those issues involved bird flu. In other words, the message's implication that the reported communication pause was suppressing information about a large recall on chicken was not based on fact. The message implies the recall is due to the bird flu — and that people who consume chicken or eggs are at risk of infection. However, the risk of contracting bird flu from eating infected chicken or egg is almost zero. According to information from the CDC published during former President Joe Biden's administration, bird flu primarily spreads from chickens and cows when people have long, direct contact with infected animals or contaminated surfaces. The virus also can spread through the air via dust particles, or via liquids like saliva, mucus, feces and unpasteurized (raw) milk. No human cases of bird flu have been reported because a person properly handled raw chicken or consumed properly cooked chicken or eggs. A 2010 report coauthored by the FDA and USDA modeling a hypothetical outbreak of bird flu found that between 95% and 98% of chicken and turkey flocks infected with bird flu would be identified before they were killed and packaged for human consumption and more than 99.99% of eggs produced by infected hens would be removed from circulation before making it to supermarket shelves. Also, cooking chicken properly (to an internal temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit, or 73.9 degrees Celsius, all the way through) inactivates the virus, rendering the chicken safe to eat. Washing your hands and cleaning your cutting boards and knives after handling raw chicken eliminates contamination risk. For eggs, the 2010 report states that in-shell pasteurization will also inactivate the virus. In other words, even if the recall were real, the risk of catching bird flu from eating contaminated chicken or eggs is negligible, especially if people practice good food safety. The message did say one thing correctly — "The bird flu is happening and there are some confirmed cases in the United States." Many stores and restaurants across the nation were reportedly facing egg shortages due to the outbreak, as of early February 2025. According to data from the CDC and USDA, the flu has infected more than 153 million birds nationwide and numerous herds of cows in 16 states since the outbreak began in 2022. As of this writing, 67 people across 10 states have tested positive for bird flu, and one person has died. All but four cases involved people who work in agriculture, putting them in close proximity to potentially infected animals. Crucially, no human infected with bird flu in the current outbreak has transmitted the disease to someone else. The CDC currently rates the risk of bird flu to the general population as "low." 2022–2024 Detections of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza. Accessed 5 Feb. 2025. CDC. "Current Situation: Bird Flu in Humans." Avian Influenza (Bird Flu), 14 Jan. 2025, ---. "H5 Bird Flu: Current Situation." Avian Influenza (Bird Flu), 4 Feb. 2025, ---. "Raw Milk." Food Safety, 31 Jan. 2025, ---. "USDA Reported H5N1 Bird Flu Detections in Poultry." Avian Influenza (Bird Flu), 4 Feb. 2025, ---. "What Causes Bird Flu Virus Infections in Humans." Avian Influenza (Bird Flu), 6 Nov. 2024, Confirmations of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza in Commercial and Backyard Flocks | Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. Accessed 5 Feb. 2025. "Egg Shortages Are Now Hitting Restaurants, With No Relief in Sight." 4 Feb. 2025. FDA Pauses Updates on Foodborne Outbreak Probes as Health Agencies Regroup on Communications - CBS News. 24 Jan. 2025, Golden, Neal, et al. Interagency Risk Assessment for the Public Health Impact of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza Virus in Poultry, Shell Eggs, and Egg Products. U.S. Department of Agriculture, May 2010, H5N1 Bird Flu Might Spread from Cows to People in Several Ways. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, How H5 Bird Flu Could Spread on a Dairy Farm. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, How Infected Backyard Poultry Could Spread Bird Flu to People. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Program, Human Foods. "Investigation of Avian Influenza A (H5N1) Virus in Dairy Cattle." FDA, Jan. 2025. ---. "Questions and Answers Regarding the Safety of Eggs During Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza Outbreaks." FDA, Aug. 2024. "Trump Administration Freezes Many Health Agency Reports and Online Posts." AP News, 22 Jan. 2025,
Yahoo
28-01-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Where to find the lowest egg prices in the Hampton Roads area
PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) — With the price of eggs rising nationwide, 10 On Your Side wanted to help you become an eggs-pert on where to find the best deal on a dozen. Don't put all your eggs in one basket. You'll see it's worth shopping around. We did the work for you. If you are a fan of eggs, you've likely seen how eggspensive they are getting and prices are only expected to climb. The main reason is because of the bird flu. This is causing a shortage. Locally, we found the price of eggs varies. Some stores are even placing purchase limits. Listed below are numerous grocery stores in the Hampton Roads area along with the price of some of their egg products.**Wegmans Grade AA Large 12 count – $3.69 Eggland's Best Classic Large White Eggs, 12 count – $5.79 Wegmans Organic Pasture Raised Grade A Extra Large Brown Eggs, 12 count – $8.49 (Two Purchase Limit) Harris Teeter Large Grade A White Eggs, 12 count – $4.89 Eggland's Best Classic Large White Eggs, 12 count – $5.19 Nest Fresh™ Free Range Non-GMO Large Brown Eggs, 12 count – $7.49 Vital Farms® Pasture-Raised Large Brown Eggs, 12 count – $8.99 Food Lion Food Lion Eggs, Fresh, White, Large, 12 count – $3.99 Nature's Promise Cage Free Large Fresh Brown Eggs, 12 count – $6.29 Eggland's Best Classic Large White Eggs, 12 count – $5.99 (Two Purchase Limit) Kroger® Grade A Large Eggs, 12 count – $2.99 Eggland's Best Classic Large White Eggs, 12 count – $4.19 Simple Truth™ Natural Cage Free Large Brown Eggs, 12 count – $4.49Goldhen Grade A Large Eggs, 12 count – $4.39 Simply Nature Organic Cage Free Brown Eggs, 12 count – $5.75 Goldhen Grade A Pasture Raised Large Brown Eggs, 12 count – $6.05 The results show Kroger had the best price for a dozen Grade A large eggs, at $2.99. Bird flu has made eggs more expensive — does it also make them unsafe to eat? Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
