The United States has almost doubled the imports of Brazilian eggs that were previously used only as pet food and is considering flexible the regulations for the eggs of gallins raised for meat, while the government of President Donald Trump seeks to reduce the very high prices fired by the avian flu.
While none of the Brazilian chicken or fat chicken eggs would reach supermarkets, they could be used in processed foods such as mixtures for cakes, ice cream or dressings for salads, which would release more fresh eggs for consumers.
Allowing the use of fattening chicken eggs would require changes in the regulations and some food security experts warned that this could contaminate food with harmful bacteria.
The national economic tension persists due to the virus that has ended with almost 170 million chickens, turkeys and other birds since the beginning of 2022. Buyers of groceries examine scarcely supplied shelves, the restaurants have increased the prices of the menus and prices of the eggs wholesale increased 53.6% in February before decreasing a little in March.
Egg shortage has fed food inflation, while Trump’s commercial disputes have threatened to interrupt supply chains and increase the costs of fresh products and other goods.
In February, the Government announced a plan of one billion dollars to reduce egg prices, which includes helping farmers to prevent virus spreading and investigating vaccine options. The Trump government also promotes imports from countries such as Türkiye, Brazil and South Korea, which usually send few eggs to the United States and has asked Europe to send more.
American eggs imports from Brazil increased 93% in February compared to the previous year, according to the Brazilian Animal Protein Association.
The United States Food and Medicines Administration told Reuters that it is reviewing a request from the National Chicken Council, allowing the sale for human consumption of eggs placed by chickens that the members of the Council raise for meat.
Currently, fattening chickens destroy millions of those eggs because they lack sufficient refrigeration to meet a FDA food safety requirement.
In 2023, the FDA rejected a similar application of the Council, claiming the risk of salmonella. The poultry industry expects the agency to now support the initiative, which coincides with Trump’s objective to drastically eliminate unnecessary regulations, according to Ashley Peterson, senior vice president of scientific and regulatory issues of the Council.
“We need more yolks for people,” said American representative Dusty Johnson, a southern Dakota Republican, who copatrocina a bill to allow eggs to be used in food products.
Do not miss: this is how EU will also be affected by the ‘high tariffs’ of other countries
Meat eggs pulling
According to the Council, every year the fattening chickens put around 360 million eggs that are not suitable for the birth of chicks. Some are used to manufacture vaccines, are exported or destined for other purposes, according to the request, but most are destroyed.
Wayne-Sanderson Farms, one of the main chicken meat producers in the United States, probably discard about 500,000 eggs per week that do not meet the specifications, said Mark Burleson, senior director of veterinary services of the company.
These eggs were sold in the past to Caso plants for their pasteurization and use in processed foods. However, in 2009, an FDA standard, aimed at reducing the diseases caused by salmonella, demanded that the eggs be cooling to 7 degrees Celsius (45 degrees Fahrenheit) from 36 hours after its setting.
Chickens producers keep the eggs of fattening chickens at approximately 65 degrees and have no equipment to refrigerate them at the lowest temperature established by the FDA, they said the advice and farmers.
The Council said that eggs do not represent a threat to public health because they are pasteurized. He added that he had no knowledge of security problems related to them before the 2009 regulations. Food security experts said insufficient refrigeration may increase pathogens to levels where pasteurization is not totally effective.
“There is a real possibility to compensate for a greater risk of foods transmitted by food with a certain proportion of eggs that enter the egg products market,” said Susan Mayne, who was director of the Fed Food Security and Nutrition Center when she considered the previous request.
Egg imports, reconsidered laws
In January, the Trump Administration allowed the importation of Brazilian eggs for processing in food products for people, after only its use in pet food was allowed, according to the Brazilian Animal Protein Association.
The Brazilian authorities had already shown that Brazil meets the US requirements to export eggs to be processed for human consumption, the association said.
However, Brazil is affected by Newcastle’s disease, a virus that often kills the birds of Corral, said the United States Department of Agriculture and the country cannot supply the United States eggs for sale in supermarkets or pasteurized liquid eggs for human consumption.
States such as Nevada and Arizona have paused animal welfare policies that required eggs from raised in freedom, in an effort to address the shortage of supplies and high prices.
Nevada suspended a 2021 law in February that requires that all eggs sold in the State come from cages free chickens.
In Arizona, state legislators are considering a proposal to repeal a similar rule that has already been delayed due to avian flu, said Patrick Bray, executive vice president of Arizona Farm and Ranch Group, which represents farmers. ”A few years ago, the consumer demanded a product of cages free chickens,” said Bray. “Now, consumers have gained awareness, since we have lost hundreds of millions of birds and egg prices are in clouds.”
With Reuters information.
Follow us on Google News to always keep you informed
Follow the information about the world in our international section
