Bipartisan bill aims to cut food waste and lower egg prices

The Lowering Egg Prices Act was introduced in the House on March 19 by Rep. Josh Riley (D-N.Y.), alongside Reps. Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.), Pat Harrigan (R-N.C.), and Kristen McDonald Rivet (D-Mich.). The bipartisan bill aims to reduce grocery costs by overturning a federal regulation that forces farmers to discard nearly 400 million eggs annually.

Current regulations require eggs to be refrigerated within 36 hours of being laid, regardless of whether they are table eggs, which are sold raw, or breaker eggs, which are pasteurized and used in processed foods like cake mix and pasta. The bill seeks to amend this requirement, allowing more eggs to enter the market rather than be wasted.

“Families across Upstate New York are struggling to make ends meet because grocery bills are too high,” said Riley. “My Lowering Egg Prices Act is a common-sense, bipartisan bill to take unnecessary regulations off the books, put hundreds of millions of eggs on the market, and lower your grocery bill.”

Supporters argue that the regulation has needlessly contributed to high egg prices and food waste. “For 15 years, this unnecessary regulation has forced businesses to throw away 400 million perfectly good eggs every single year,” said Harrigan. “That’s over 6 billion eggs wasted—eggs that should have gone to breakfast tables, school lunches, and food banks.”

The bill aligns with a recent National Chicken Council petition to the Food and Drug Administration requesting a rule change. The NCC has argued that breaker eggs, which undergo high-efficiency pasteurization, pose an extremely low public health risk, a conclusion supported by a 2020 joint risk assessment from the FDA and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

“With Easter right around the corner, coupled with ongoing high egg prices, we should be doing everything we can to help the egg supply, and this is low-hanging fruit,” said NCC President Harrison Kircher.

In addition to the bill, more than a dozen lawmakers have signed a letter to Acting FDA Commissioner Dr. Sara Brenner, urging the agency to grant the NCC’s request. The Lowering Egg Prices Act would ensure these eggs reach consumers, easing supply shortages and reducing costs for American families.