Sawt Falasteen - Soaring egg prices have US consumers squawking

In Washington and its suburbs, supermarket egg shelves are now often empty, or sparsely stocked. Some stores limit the number of cartons each client may buy. And everywhere, consumers are shocked by the high prices.

"They're getting expensive," 26-year-old student Samantha Lopez told AFP as she shopped in a supermarket in the US capital. "It's kind of difficult... My budget for food is already very tight."

The situation is much the same in the southern state of Florida.

"Eggs are important (and) so nutritious," said Miami resident Blanche De Jesus, "but you can hardly buy them because they are so expensive. It is a shame."

Responding to irate consumers, a Washington supermarket posted this explanation: "You may notice a price increase on eggs at this time due to the recent avian influenza outbreak in the Midwest," the country's agricultural heartland.

More than 21 million egg-laying hens have been euthanized this year because of the disease, according to data published Friday by the US Agriculture Department. Most of them were in the states of Ohio, North Carolina and Missouri.

The department reported the "depopulation" of a further 13.2 million in December.

Higher prices were the inevitable result, experts say.

"If there's no birds to lay eggs... then we have a supply shortage, and that leads to higher prices because of supply and demand dynamics," said Jada Thompson, a poultry specialist at the University of Arkansas.

- 'Near-record highs' -

Some grocers are "holding prices at record or near-record highs to dampen demand," the Agriculture Department said.

The average price of a dozen Grade A eggs was 65 percent higher in December compared to a year before -- rising from $2.50 to $4.15, according to official data.

Supermarkets are not the only ones feeling the pain.

Waffle House, a popular restaurant chain known for its all-day breakfast menu, made headlines when it moved to charge customers an extra 50 cents per egg.

"The continuing egg shortage caused by HPAI (bird flu) has caused a dramatic increase in egg prices," Waffle House said in a statement to CNN. "Customers and restaurants are being forced to make difficult decisions."

In the United States, the virus is being found not only in poultry but also in dairy cows.

Sixty-seven cases have been detected in humans since the beginning of last year, nearly all of them proving benign and linked to known contacts with infected animals.

Americans are among the world's biggest egg lovers, particularly at breakfast time, consuming on average 277 eggs a year, according to the United Egg Producers, an agricultural cooperative.

U.AlSharif--SF-PST