--- title: Bird Flu Pushes U.S. to Import European Egg Products description: Greater supply is needed for processed foods and commercial baking. canonical: https://time.com/3913599/bird-flu-dutch-eggs/ author: Sarah Begley article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-06-08T22:57:24.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T08:01:43.173Z article:section: Health og:title: Bird Flu Pushes U.S. to Import European Egg Products og:description: Greater supply is needed for processed foods and commercial baking og:url: https://time.com/3913599/bird-flu-dutch-eggs/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8281264300b012b5/69885390e20a87119fa8bbde/commercial-eggs.jpeg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: 547457951 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Bird Flu Pushes U.S. to Import European Egg Products twitter:description: Greater supply is needed for processed foods and commercial baking twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8281264300b012b5/69885390e20a87119fa8bbde/commercial-eggs.jpeg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Bird Flu Pushes U.S. to Import European Egg Products by [Sarah Begley](/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley Jun 8, 2015 10:57 PM CUT  Full Frame Shot Of Eggs In Crate Full Frame Shot Of Eggs In CrateJasmin Kmmerer—EyeEm/Getty Images by [Sarah Begley](/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley Jun 8, 2015 10:57 PM CUT Commercial bakers and producers of processed food in the U.S. will soon be able to buy [egg products from the Netherlands](http://bigstory.ap.org/article/2a300ad1f79040a8a2fb4462dc463782/us-import-egg-products-netherlands-ease-shortage "undefined"), a move that will mark the first European egg imports in more than a decade and aim to reverse the domestic shortage in the wake of a large bird flu outbreak. Five Dutch producers will start sell egg products to American producers within days, the Associated Press reported Monday, citing a spokesman for the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS). Some 47 million birds have been killed or are dying as a result of the [H5N2 virus](http://time.com/3857283/bird-flu-outbreak-usda/ "undefined"), with 35 million egg-laying hens among them that accounted for 80% of the eggs that are processed by being broken and liquefied, frozen or dried for commercial use. While the U.S. typically produces enough eggs to export tens of millions of them a month, the shortage has sent prices for egg products used by bakeries and manufacturers soaring by 200% in just the past few weeks. Commodity market research firm Urner Barry reports American consumers have seen their cartons of whole eggs grow 120% more expensive in the last month. The rising cost has led some shoppers to choose organic or cage-free options, an analyst at the the firm notes, as those prices haven’t jumped since those hens haven’t been as hard-hit by bird flu. Canada is usually the only nation from which the U.S. imports the kind of egg products used in these commercial industries. In a [statement](http://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsis/home/!ut/p/a1/04%5FSj9CPykssy0xPLMnMz0vMAfGjzOINAg3MDC2dDbwsfDxdDDz9AtyMgnyMDf3dDIAKIkEKcABHA0L6w%5FWjUJX4Wxq6AZWEBfp7OzsbWPgZwxTgtqIgN8Ig01FREQBCfym8/?1dmy&page=gov.usda.fsis.internet.topics&urile=wcm%3Apath%3A%2FFSIS-Content%2Finternet%2Fmain%2Fnewsroom%2Fmeetings%2Fnewsletters%2Fconstituent-updates%2Farchive%2F2015%2FConstUpdate060115 "undefined") last week, the FSIS said The Netherlands’s food safety system “continues to be equivalent” to the U.S. system. \[[_AP_](http://bigstory.ap.org/article/2a300ad1f79040a8a2fb4462dc463782/us-import-egg-products-netherlands-ease-shortage "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3913599/bird-flu-dutch-eggs/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3913599/bird-flu-dutch-eggs/"},"headline":"Bird Flu Pushes U.S. to Import European Egg Products","datePublished":"2015-06-08T22:57:24.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T08:01:43.173Z","description":"Greater supply is needed for processed foods and commercial baking","url":"https://time.com/3913599/bird-flu-dutch-eggs/","keywords":["Diet & Nutrition","eggs","Bird Flu"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8281264300b012b5/69885390e20a87119fa8bbde/commercial-eggs.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Sarah Begley","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/sarah-begley/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8281264300b012b5/69885390e20a87119fa8bbde/commercial-eggs.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"547457951","caption":"547457951","creditText":"Jasmin Kmmerer—EyeEm/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/dietnutrition/","name":"Diet & Nutrition"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3913599/bird-flu-dutch-eggs/","name":"Bird Flu Pushes U.S. to Import European Egg Products"}}]}] ```