San Diegans Scramble To Buy Eggs South Of The Border

SAN DIEGO — With the average price of a dozen eggs quickly approaching $10 in many areas and no relief in sight, those hoping to save some money by traveling to Mexico to purchase poultry and poultry products to save a few bucks are out of luck, according to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agency.

The law enforcement agency issued a news release Friday, Jan. 20, reminding the traveling public “to be mindful” that certain agricultural items such as raw eggs and poultry from Mexico are prohibited from entry into the United States.

“Failure to declare these items may result in monetary penalties,” the agency said.

According to CBP, bringing raw poultry, eggs, and even some produce from Mexico are prohibited and will be confiscated at the port.

To learn more about what is allowed and what is prohibited at the border ports of enter, click here.

“There has been a large increase in the volume of prohibited food items, such as raw eggs and raw poultry meat, brought by travelers from Mexico. We would like to remind the traveling public that federal agricultural regulations remain in effect,” Jennifer De La O, CBP Director of Field Operations in San Diego, said.

Over the past several months consumers have seen an increase in the average egg and poultry prices, from $2.35 for a dozen large eggs at this time last year to $7.37 last week.

According to the United States Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service an ongoing outbreak of avian influenza (bird flu) is to blame for increases in prices of eggs and poultry.

“As a result of recurrent outbreaks, U.S. egg inventories were 29 percent lower in the final week of December 2022 than at the beginning of the year,” the USDA reported. “By the end of December, more than 43 million egg-laying hens were lost to the disease itself or to depopulation since the outbreak began in February 2022.”

In its report, the USDA confirmed the outbreak caused the loss of over 57 million birds, mainly chickens and turkeys, in the United States alone.

“This is the deadliest bird flu outbreak in history, and while the current bird flu outbreak is believed to initially have been spread by wild birds, previous outbreaks of this and other avian diseases like Newcastle disease have been linked to human movement of birds and avian products,” CBP said in its news release. “Even a soiled bird cage or used egg carton could potentially spread these diseases.”

The CBP news release said that the USDA had issued guidance to zoos and bird keepers on how best to keep their birds healthy and reduce the risk from bird flu and other infectious diseases.

To learn more about those guidelines visit the USDA Guidance here.

“Reducing the outbreak’s impact is of paramount importance, and preventing the spread, including the prohibition of importing items that may spread the disease from other countries,” CBP said.