Cal-Maine Foods, largest producer of eggs in US, finds bird flu in chickens

[brownelvis54]

Cal-Maine Foods, largest producer of eggs in US, finds bird flu in chickens at Texas plant

The largest supplier of eggs in the United States halted production after chickens at a Texas plant tested positive for the highly contagious bird flu - the latest in a spike of cases across the nation.

Cal-Maine Foods on Tuesday announced chickens at its facility in Parmer County, in the state's southwestern panhandle, tested positive for pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) resulting in slaughter of nearly 2 million chickens − 1.6 million hens and 337,000 pullets (young hens).

The announcement less than 24 hours after  the Centers for Disease Control reported a person in Texas had been infected with the virus after coming into close contact with dairy cattle and just over a week after sick dairy cattle in Texas and Kansas tested positive for the virus.


ARTICLE

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2024/04/03/bird-flu-chickens-texas-eggs-cal-maine-foods/73188200007/

[brownelvis54]

Of course, this will lead to higher prices for eggs.........but....There's something the public needs to know about Cal-Maine foods., owners of Egglands Best, Land O Lakes , Farmhouse and 4 Grain brands When COVID hit, they were the biggest gougers in the food industry.  Time Magazine did a story about them (and other gougers) showing how Cal Maine raised their profit (not price, but profit),  718% in one year.  .  The Time article was about how food companies are using excuses like inflation, shortages, and yes, even bird flu, to jack up prices. 
In a complaint to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the Farm Action organization alleged that Cal-Maine Foods is engaging in "a collusive scheme among industry leaders to turn inflationary conditions and an avian flu outbreak into an opportunity to extract egregious profits."