Protecting families from contaminated food and water
All fields are required
Protecting families from contaminated food and water
Posted in Our Blog on April 2, 2025
The United States is considering imported eggs as a solution to country-wide egg shortages and price surges to abate the growing crisis. But is it a good thing?
With wholesale egg prices surging up over 50% and egg producers unable to meet consumer demand, we may see this happening.
Are these imported eggs from Turkey, Brazil, or South Korea safe?
In addition to helping domestic farmers by researching vaccine options and other ways to prevent the spread of bird flu, a move to bring more eggs into the country is in the works.
In February, the Trump administration announced a $1 billion plan designed to lower egg prices. A measure expected to include $500 million in United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) funds to provide “free biosecurity audits to farms” and another $400 million to “increase payment rates to farmers who need to kill their chickens due to bird flu.”
Additionally, we could potentially see eggs from Turkey, Brazil, and South Korea on store shelves or in products that contain eggs very soon.
The United States is not the first country to consider imported eggs to help mend the egg crisis in their country.
How did others fare?
Evidently, not so well.
Russia began importing eggs from Turkey, one of their largest trading partners and one of the largest chicken egg producers in the world.
According to Russian authorities, more than one-fifth of the imported eggs from that partner tested positive for not only bird flu, but also Salmonella and botulism.
This was actually the subject of a study looking at the safety of eggs from Turkey.
A recent study from The Middle East Technical University looked at the rates of Salmonella bacteria from organic free-range, cage-free, and caged hen eggs.
The study analyzed 250 eggs from the different cultivation methods. They found a lot of Salmonella. More specifically, 17 different strains of Salmonella bacteria.
The study found that 12% of free-range eggs contained Salmonella bacteria. They found that 10% of cage-free eggs and 12% of caged-hen eggs also tested positive for Salmonella bacteria.
A 2022 study revealed identical results.
How does that compare to Salmonella rates in American eggs? According to the reports, the overall incidence of Salmonella in US eggs is 1 in 20,000. Or 0.005%.
Believe it or not, the U.S. already receives imported eggs from Brazil. But they are not used for shell eggs. They are primarily used for pet food.
In response to egg shortages, the number of imported eggs from Brazil for this purpose has nearly doubled.
Potential changes could broaden the allowable use for Brazilian eggs, which are laid by broiler chickens (chickens raised for meat as opposed to dedicated layers).
But this would require changing regulations. If approved, these eggs may be used in processed foods like cake mixes, ice cream, or salad dressings.
Food safety experts warn that this could leave us vulnerable for increased risk of harmful bacterial contamination. This is largely due to the current broiler chicken situation.
The reason this has not been considered in the past is because many broiler chicken producers lack sufficient refrigeration to meet FDA food safety egg requirements.
The Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) explains that “while there is no evidence that anyone in the United States has gotten infected with avian influenza A [bird flu] viruses after eating properly handled and cooked poultry products, uncooked poultry, and other poultry products (like blood) could have been the source of a small number of avian influenza A virus infections in people in Southeast Asia.”
The CDC recommends cooking poultry, eggs, and beef to the appropriate minimum internal temperature, as this will kill bacteria and viruses (including bird flu). Cook chicken and eggs to at least 165° F minimum internal temperature.
Additionally, you should keep uncooked poultry away from cooked foods or those that will not be cooked (like lettuce and fruit).
The severity of bird flu in humans has recently shifted from very mild to a spectrum that even includes deadly.
Most instances of bird flu in humans has been attributed to exposure to sick or infected animals. But as this virus adapts, given the fact that bird flu has been detected in eggs, it wouldn’t hurt to assume that you may become sick from eggs or poultry products.
So, what does bird flu in humans look like?
Mild symptoms of bird flu in humans may include:
Less common symptoms may include diarrhea, nausea, or vomiting.
Moderate to severe symptoms of bird flu in humans may include:
Complications of bird flu may include:
Bird flu symptoms often begin around three days after exposure. But this can range anywhere from two to seven days. Most of the time eye symptoms begin one or two days after exposure.
Some people who are infected with bird flu have no symptoms at all. We are still trying to figure out how this happens or how common this is. Though it does appear that even those who are asymptomatic can still be contagious to others.
I’m curious. What are your thoughts on imported eggs for processed foods? Knowing the rates of Salmonella in recent studies, will having these products used as ingredients in processed foods impact your confidence in our food supply?
If you’d like to know more about food safety topics in the news, like “Is Imported Eggs a Good Thing or a Bad Thing for Americans?,” check out the Make Food Safe Blog. We regularly update trending topics, foodborne infections in the news, recalls, and more! Stay tuned for quality information to help keep your family safe, while The Lange Law Firm, PLLC strives to Make Food Safe!
By: Heather Van Tassell (contributing writer, non-lawyer)