Tri-State Area stores warn customers about increased egg prices due to bird flu outbreak
HOBOKEN, N.J. — ShopRite stores in the Tri-State Area are alerting customers about the national bird flu outbreak and its effect on egg supply and increased pricing.
It comes days after state and federal agricultural workers euthanized an entire flock of 100,000 ducks at a farm in Suffolk County, New York due to bird flu.
Then on Friday, bird flu was detected in a backyard flock in New Haven, Connecticut, just one week after avian influenza was confirmed in New London County.
"With the loss of 35 million birds last year and 5 million birds this year, that's a significant portion of the national flock, and it's only 10 or 15 percent," said Amy Barkley, with Cornell Cooperative Extension. "Any little hiccup like that in the system is gonna cause the prices to go up."
Disaster response experts at Cornell University say it's difficult to predict and could take some time for egg prices to decrease. One of the challenges is that it takes about six to nine months to get egg production flowing from a flock that has been depopulated.
Shoppers frustrated with "ridiculous" prices, bare shelves
Customers have already been noticing the impact.
"There's nothing on the shelves," Hoboken resident Linda Lopez said.
"The price of eggs, it almost tripled," Hillside resident Sharon Graves said.
"The price of eggs is ridiculous. I think the highest price I've seen was like $31. Who pays $31 for, like, 24 eggs? Come on," Irvington resident Virginia Cyrus said.
Lopez said she recently paid $16 for a dozen eggs.
"My daughter was going back to the University of Miami, and it's like she needed some eggs, and of course, Mommy wanted to cook. And Mommy paid the price," she said.
For now, some shoppers are rolling with the punches.
"You gotta do what you gotta do," Hoboken resident Abeer Ghai said.
CBS News New York has been told most of the eggs sold in New York are produced in other states and will affect egg processing. Although prices are higher, the egg supply is safe.
