Petition to FDA would divert 400 million eggs to market
In light of the pressure the current highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI or “bird flu”) outbreak is putting on the nation’s egg supply, and resulting record egg prices, the National Chicken Council (NCC) today petitioned the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) to reverse or modify an Obama-era regulation that forces the broiler industry (chickens raised for meat) to discard perfectly nutritious and 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. Read more