Egg prices are leaving consumers, businesses with sticker shock
It's not just your imagination, your grocery bill is really getting more expensive. That's because prices have significantly increased and inflation is not the only reason.
One example of an item that's seen significant price hikes: eggs. Egg prices jumped nearly 50 percent in 2022, according to the consumer price index.
In addition to inflation, eggs specifically saw significant challenges in 2022 that hurt the nation's supply.
Consumers and businesses are seeing an increase in egg prices and a shortage at grocery stores. That's because farms and other providers of the eggs you buy at your local grocery store are reporting a limited supply caused by the avian flu.
Farmers across the country and North Carolina have had to destroy entire flocks of chickens if one or more test positive for the avian flu.
As late as October 2022, the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services warned the public and farmers after a backyard chicken flock in Wake County tested positive for High Path Avian Influenza (HPAI).
The positive sample was identified by the department's lab in Raleigh and was the first confirmed positive in a backyard flock in the state.
The flock of less than 100 birds had to be killed to prevent the spread of the disease.
According to the department, HPAI was found at nine poultry farms in Johnston and Wayne counties in late spring and early summer of 2022.
CDC officials said this type of HPAI virus is considered a low risk to people but is highly contagious to other birds, including commercial and backyard flocks of poultry.
The virus is also not considered a food safety threat and infected birds do not enter the food supply.
There was a similar price spike in eggs in the spring of 2022 due to a shortage brought on by avian flu.
Check prices of food, consumers good here on US Bureau of Labor Statistics
