The Increase Price in Eggs: About Bird Flu and Food Safety
In January 2022, the average egg price in the United States is 1.93$ per dozen. In twelve months, it went up to 4.25$ per dozen, a 220% increase. Though inflation is thought to be one of the reasons, the 2022 avian influenza (bird flu) outbreak is the primary cause of the dramatic price change.
Average price data (U.S. Bureau of Labor, 2023) The 2022 outbreak of avian flu is caused by highly pathogenic avian influenza, known as HPAI. HPAI can infect more than 100 species of wild birds and poultry, such as chickens, turkeys, ducks, and so on. The virus infections are especially deadly to chickens, having a mortality rate of 90% to 100% within 48 hours.
On January 12, 2023, the latest update from the U.S. Department of Agriculture showed that more than 57.86 million birds have been affected by the outbreak, which makes the outbreak surpass the previous record of 50.5 million bird deaths due to the avian flu outbreak in 2015.
Food Safety
Fortunately, there has been no evidence that properly cooked poultry and eggs will cause bird flu infection in humans. Even with USDA’s efforts to prevent infected poultry products from entering the market, there remains a chance, though extremely low, for consumers to purchase these products. Consumers can follow some tips to protect themselves from infection:
- – Wash hands with water and soap for 20 seconds before and after handling raw poultry products;
- – Keep raw poultry products from other food to prevent cross-contamination;
- – Clean the cookware that has come in contact with raw poultry products with water and soap;
- – Make sure to cook poultry and egg to an internal temperature of 165℉ (74℃).
- For more information regarding the bird flu, please visit the official website of CDC and USDA.
