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Lowering Egg Prices Act of 2025
4/4/2025, 5:08 AM
Summary of Bill HR 2222
The main purpose of the bill is to make it easier for producers of surplus broiler hatching eggs to operate without being subject to regulations that are more appropriate for shell eggs. By exempting surplus broiler hatching eggs from these regulations, the bill aims to promote efficiency and reduce costs for producers in this specific sector of the poultry industry.
Overall, the Surplus Broiler Hatching Eggs Act is intended to support the growth and sustainability of the broiler hatching egg industry by removing unnecessary regulatory barriers. The bill is currently under consideration in the US Congress and has garnered bipartisan support for its efforts to promote economic growth and efficiency in the poultry industry.
Congressional Summary of HR 2222
Lowering Egg Prices Act of 2025
This bill permits unrefrigerated surplus eggs originally intended for hatching to be repurposed for use in pasteurized liquid egg products intended for consumption.
Under current regulations, most eggs intended for consumption must be refrigerated within 36 hours of being laid. The bill would exempt from this requirement surplus broiler hatching eggs (eggs originally intended to be hatched and raised for meat) that are repurposed for sale to an egg breaker (a facility that sells liquid egg to food manufacturers).
(Broiler hatching eggs are generally held at a warmer temperature than other eggs in order to facilitate incubation. Because these eggs are not refrigerated, current regulations prohibit the sale of any surplus broiler hatching eggs to egg breakers for use in liquid egg products. Liquid egg products distributed for consumption are separately required under current law to be pasteurized, or treated to destroy bacteria.)
The bill also requires the Food and Drug Administration to revise the refrigeration requirement to permit surplus broiler hatching eggs held at temperatures suitable for hatching chicks to be sold to egg breakers for processing as liquid egg products.
