An egg shortage due to the continuing spread of bird flu is impacting shoppers across the United States just days before the holiday season begins.
Just one week before Thanksgiving, visitors to Trader Joe's stores across the country are reporting on social media that shelves that previously held eggs are now empty.
Shoppers at a Trader Joe's store in Washington, D.C.'s Union Market District on Wednesday noticed a sign on one of the shelves that said, “Eggs are temporarily out of stock.”
Customer Donella Brockington, She spoke of her concerns to the Washington Post She won't have any eggs to bake for Thanksgiving.
“I hate going to the grocery store, so it makes me uncomfortable when I go there and don't get what I want,” she said.
Chicago area resident tried to buy eggs at local Trader Joe's I wrote it on Reddit The store was completely out of stock.
A sign posted inside the store read, “Where are the eggs?'' We are currently transitioning to cage-free only, so supply may be temporarily reduced. Thank you for your patience!”
More than 240 people responded to the post. Several of them agreed with the original poster and said they, too, have noticed egg shortages at local grocery stores.
“There's no one in my TJ either! They're in Oregon! Oh, what a shame,” said one Redditor I wrote.
“I actually went to Trader Joe's tonight and they had the same sign up. I'm in Pennsylvania,” said another Reddit user. commented.
Redditor based in Virginia, Colorado, and Arizona All reported going to their local Trader Joe's And it turns out that there is a shortage of eggs.
The newspaper has reached out to Trader Joe's for comment.
In the 12 months ended last month, egg prices rose more than 30%. According to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In contrast, overall food prices rose by 2.1% over the same period.
The average price for 12 grade A large eggs was $3.37 in October, down from $3.82 in September. BLS data were obtained from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis' FRED site.
Prior to February 2022, the average price for 12 eggs remained consistently below $2.
However, due to the avian influenza epidemic that began in January 2022, egg prices have skyrocketed. In the early stages of the outbreak, the average price of 12 eggs soared to a record $4.82.
The reason for the price hike is believed to be a sharp increase in the number of avian influenza cases detected in wild waterfowl and commercial poultry.
According to Centers for Disease Control and PreventionSince January 2022, more than 108.4 million birds have been affected by avian influenza nationwide.
More than 2.8 million birds were culled in Utah, Washington and Oregon last month due to bird flu outbreaks.
Nationwide egg production fell 2.6% last month from a year ago, according to a report released Friday by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Egg production this year is expected to decrease by 1% compared to 2023. According to the USDA.
A few cases of human infection with bird flu have been reported, but public health officials say the risk of widespread human infection is low.
