United States egg production could get back to its normal rates within two years, federal officials told the Associated Press (AP) on Sunday. Egg prices started to drop this week. However, the bird flu virus has created a big shortage that has caused restaurants to jack up prices of egg dishes or eliminate the menu items altogether.
The bird influenza took the lives of millions of female chickens raised on commercial farms during the spring, according to AP. That led to an egg price increase.
The higher cost of eggs is affecting both restaurants and diners. It has risen due to restaurants getting their supply from local producers whose stocks of the oval food have quickly shrunk, due to increased demand.
Many restaurant owners have implemented price increases on various items such as omelets and quiche, in order to offset the higher overhead costs. The last resort is to shrink the menu.
The good news is that the spread of the H5N2 bird flu virus has slowed significantly. However, 48 million turkeys and chickens have already died due to the epidemic, affecting the production of U.S. eggs.
American Egg Board vice president John Howeth told AP that recovery from the current egg crisis could happen in one year. However, that is a best-case scenario.
The cost of one dozen large eggs rose 120 percent at the apex of the crisis, before the avian flu epidemic. In addition, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has projected that egg production will drop 5.3 percent this year, according to The Week.