An avian flu fueled chicken egg shortage in the U.S. has forced commissary egg prices to climb.
Between May 1 and June 9, the average price per dozen eggs at stateside commissaries almost doubled from $1.41 to $2.74, commissary officials said. And it's expected to go up more.
"Because this latest avian flu outbreak -- called the largest in U.S. history by the CDC and USDA -- has severely impacted egg farms nationally, egg prices are going up for all retailers, including commissaries," commissary spokesman Kevin Robinson said in a statement.
Officials said they do not have any plans to set a per customer purchase limit or ration the item in commissary stores and don't expect an egg shortage that will impact the commissary's supplies.
"We've been in contact with our suppliers and they've assured us that our egg inventories will be fine," he said.
But civilian stores in some locations are apparently not as safe. Some have begun egg rationing programs, according to a recent Washington Post report. H.E.B. stores in Texas have begun limiting egg purchases to three cartons per customer.
This isn't the first egg drama the commissary has had recently. The same avian flu outbreak that is causing our current stateside woes earlier this year meant that Japan and Korea were no longer allowing the import of US eggs. That was a big problem for the commissary there and resulted in a serious egg shortage. They were eventually able to find local providers that met their food safety standards, but things were dicey there for awhile.
If egg prices continue to rise you can, logically, also expect the prices of food at on-base restaurants to go up as well. Prices at base dining facilities, however, are unlikely to be immediately impacted as those price changes require a more complicated approval process.
Image courtesy Flickr user Janine under Creative Commons license.
