Millions of good eggs continue to be thrown away as the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) failed to reach a decision after 180 days of consideration on whether to allow surplus eggs from broiler breeder hens to be sold into the egg product marketplace. The FDA received a petition from the National Chicken Council, Grocery Manufacturers Association, and the Association for Dressings & Sauces in October of 2015 requesting the agency revise its refrigeration policy. The FDA this week notified NCC and the petitioners that the agency hopes to review the petition and respond to the group’s request “in the near future.”
“It is disappointing that FDA has yet to make a decision after six months of review, while broiler producers continue to be forced to discard millions of perfectly good and safe eggs that could be sent to egg breakers for use in a variety of food products,” said Ashley Peterson, Ph.D., NCC senior vice president of scientific and regulatory affairs, in response to FDA’s letter. “Easter is typically a time for good news about eggs, but this decision is the exact opposite in our minds.”
The petition requested that FDA reverse or modify its Final Rule that all eggs intended for pasteurization must be kept at 45° F within 36 hours of being laid. NCC had disputed this rule in 2010 on the grounds that such requirements are unnecessary for broiler breeder eggs destined for pasteurization because those eggs are ensured a high level of food safety. Broiler hatcheries are unable to store their eggs at 45° F prior to setting them for hatching because it will significantly decrease the likelihood of embryo survival. Instead, potential hatching eggs are stored in a room kept at 65° F before they are placed in incubators. If there are more eggs available than the market demands, they are considered “surplus eggs” not set for hatching, and would be available for consumption.
Modification of the Final Rule would allow broiler hatcheries to sell their eggs for pasteurization and further processing, leading to an additional 356 million available eggs in the marketplace – enough to feed 94,000 Americans per year. Such an increase would protect egg prices during disease outbreaks such as avian influenza, which decimated large numbers of the country’s egg laying hens in 2014 and 2015.
Egg products are defined by USDA as “eggs that are removed from their shells for processing.” The processing of egg products includes breaking eggs, filtering, mixing, stabilizing, blending, pasteurizing, cooling, freezing or drying, and packaging. This is done at USDA-inspected plants. Liquid, frozen, and dried egg products are widely used by food manufacturers and the foodservice industry and as ingredients in other foods, such as salad dressings, bread, cake mix, pasta, pancake mix, mayonnaise, ice cream, pie crusts, sauces, and many other everyday food products.
Because egg products are pasteurized, they are ensured a high level of food safety.
The filed petition may be read in full here, and FDA’s response letter can be read here.
