Price tied to diet, reduced supplies

Saturday, December 13, 2003

By Mackenzie Carpenter, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Eggs: they're what's for breakfast.

And, apparently, dinner. And lunch. With apologies to Robert Mitchum and the beef industry, more and more people are eating eggs than ever before -- 6.3 billion yearly, at last count -- and they are paying more for them now than at any time during the past 20 years.

Locally, the price of an 18-egg pack at the Mt. Lebanon Giant Eagle rose from $1.43 a year ago to $2.63 now. The Shop 'n Save in Millvale has seen a similar price increase over the past year, said John Mullins, that store's manager.

"It's shocking," said Linda Gossar-Loesch, 55, of Murrysville, who only noticed the price spike last week. "I don't see how this could happen."

Some egg industry observers say increased demand is the most logical reason for the spike in prices, and while holiday baking is at its peak right now, another factor is being cited: the wildly popular and protein-heavy Atkins diet, bolstered by new medical research that says eggs are perfectly safe to eat several times a week.

While officials at Atkins Nutritionals Inc. -- the company that markets the high-fat, high-protein, low-carbohydrate diet begun by the late Dr. Robert Atkins -- could not be reached for comment yesterday,, others suspect the diet's popularity is behind the resurgence of eggs.

Research published this year in the New England Journal of Medicine and elsewhere found that people on the Atkins diet lost twice as much weight over six months as those on standard low-fat diets.

Gene Gregory, a spokesman for the Georgia-based United Egg Producers, said the high egg prices came as a surprise to him. While reductions in flocks -- a new policy designed to alleviate crowded conditions for chickens -- may have something to do with a decrease in supply, and therefore higher prices, he thinks Americans are simply eating more eggs.

"Based on the comments by my neighbors and friends, I think I know why. They say, 'You must be happy, we're eating a lot of eggs because we're on this Atkins diet.'"

Locally, egg producers discounted Atkins, instead citing the industry's new policy -- in response to complaints by animal rights groups about crowding in chicken coops -- which has resulted in fewer chickens and therefore lower supply.

"We've been taking a proactive approach towards allowing caged chickens more space," said Gary Bethel, a spokesman for Hillandale Farms of Pennsylvania and a North Versailles egg producer. "If we had a house that held 100,000 chickens five years ago, it would house 80,000 now, and that means quite a reduction in total egg numbers."

The perceived health benefits of eggs have in turn created a niche market for "specialty" eggs, he noted. Hillandale provides "cage-free" eggs -- from chickens that wander over larger spaces rather than in cages -- as well as organic eggs, eggs rich in heart-healthy Omega-3, and eggs rich in Vitamin E. At between $2.09 and $2.29 a dozen, they cost substantially more than regular eggs, even without factoring in the recent price increases.

Others aren't so sure that decreased flocks are behind the higher costs of eggs. In October, nearly 276 million chickens were laying "table," or unfertilized eggs, which are the ones we buy in the supermarket for our omelets and egg salads, according to the National Agricultural Statistics Service. While that number represents a 2 percent drop from last year, it's almost balanced out by an increase in the number of eggs laid per chicken, noted Tom Kruchten, a spokesman for agency.

"Supply isn't down," Kruchten said, "but it is restrained." While he wouldn't say for sure, Kruchten said it is "logical" to conclude there is an increased demand for eggs year round, possibly because of changes in eating patterns.

Sandy Catone, 41, of Penn Township is one who started eating more eggs when she and her family went on the Atkins diet over the summer. "We were definitely eating more eggs," she said. "I would boil them and keep them in the refrigerator. That was one of our snacks. And we'd have them for breakfast, too. We'd have them with salads and stuff. I'm not a real big egg lover, but I must say that when you're limited to things you can eat, you make do."

Despite all the fuss about pricier eggs, Catone said she wasn't bothered by it. "If you're going to eat the things that are good for you, I don't think you should get too worried about prices."

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