Eggs are costlier than ever earlier than, with some People spending greater than a greenback an egg. These egg costs aren’t only a product of inflation, they’re additionally linked to an ongoing hen flu epidemic. However other than the value of eggs, how does the H5N1 epidemic have an effect on your breakfast? Is it fit for human consumption eggs throughout this epidemic? And other than hen flu, is it wholesome to eat eggs within the first place? Right here’s all the pieces it is advisable know.
What Is Hen Flu?
Hen flu, or avian influenza (H5N1), is a viral an infection that spreads primarily in birds. Hen flu outbreaks can have an effect on massive numbers of birds and different animals, and in some instances may even unfold to people.
In instances the place H5N1 spreads to people, it could possibly trigger delicate to extreme respiratory signs and pink eye. Individuals who work with dairy cows, poultry, and waterfowl are probably the most in danger, as infections unfold from individual to individual are extraordinarily uncommon.
The Present Hen Flu Epidemic
The present H5 hen flu outbreak started in March 2024. It has since affected over 166 million chickens, and 30 million birds had been culled within the first two months of 2025 alone1. Because of this, egg costs have greater than doubled because the outbreak started, with an all-time common excessive of $4.95 per dozen. The USDA predicts that costs might soar greater than 40 p.c in 20252, and Enterprise Insider argues that they might by no means settle again right down to pre-flu numbers3.
Whereas there was some discuss of placing a cease to culling, authorities officers now say that the present “stamping out” coverage will stay the beneficial plan of action4. This coverage has been beneficial by the World Group for Animal Well being to scale back each unfold and animal struggling.
Within the brief time period, importing eggs from international locations like Turkey could assist fill the egg-shaped void in American grocery shops. Longer-term proposed coverage modifications embrace the event of vaccinations for poultry, although there are considerations that this might influence exports, as we noticed in France when authorities started vaccinating geese for hen flu.
It’s Not Simply Birds We Have to Fear About
Opposite to its frequent names of “hen flu” or “avian flu,” H5N1 can infect people, with 70 reported instances of hen flu in individuals in america to this point. The pressure additionally reveals what the Los Angeles Occasions has known as “a troubling capacity to leap to mammals5.”
In April 2024, farmers reported the primary ever instances of hen flu in dairy cattle. Since then, 985 dairy herds have been contaminated, 754 of that are in California. In March 2025, scientists recognized a genetic mutation in 4 dairy cow herds that makes the virus extra transmissible — and extra lethal. “It’s not a stretch to assume it might assist allow extra human infections,” says Richard Webby, a virologist at St. Jude’s Kids’s Analysis Hospital6.
How one can Eat Eggs Safely
So are you able to get hen flu from eggs? We all know that folks can contract hen flu by coming into contact with contaminated livestock, however consuming contaminated eggs doesn’t appear to influence human well being. To this point, there have been no confirmed instances of hen flu in people linked to consuming contaminated eggs7.
Hen flu apart, the CDC nonetheless recommends cooking eggs to an inside temperature of 165˚F8. The company says that that is the easiest way to kill off micro organism and viruses, together with avian influenza A viruses.
That stated, based on Dave Asprey, Writer of Closely Meditated, cooking eggs to this temperature “often isn’t a problem in case your eggs are high-quality and pasture-raised.”
And cooking eggs for too lengthy can really deliver out different detrimental well being results. “Overcooking egg yolks will oxidize the ldl cholesterol and fats within the yolks which might result in irritation,” says Asprey. “I personally solely eat eggs with a runny yolk.”
Which Eggs Ought to You Eat?
As with many meals merchandise, not all eggs are created equal. Whereas caged eggs are on the trail to being eradicated from the American meals system in the intervening time9, the variations between cage-free eggs, cage-free natural eggs, and actually pastured eggs will be big. These variations aren’t simply concerning the well being and life-style of the animals, but additionally concerning the dietary content material of the eggs themselves.
For the perfect, search for natural, Licensed Humane eggs labeled “pasture-raised” or “free-range.”
Based on researchers at Penn State’s School of Agricultural Sciences, actually pastured eggs are extra flavorful — to not point out richer in omega-3 fatty acids and nutritional vitamins A and E10. For the perfect, search for natural, Licensed Humane eggs labeled “pasture-raised” or “free-range.”
Are Eggs Even Wholesome?
Hen flu apart, eggs have lengthy flip-flopped within the eyes of public opinion. We dutifully ate one a day; we ate three a day. We ate complete eggs or simply the whites or none in any respect, changing them with Egg Beaters or flax eggs. So what’s the reality — are eggs wholesome, or do eggs trigger excessive ldl cholesterol? Vitamin science and the FDA have lastly settled on a verdict: Eggs are good for you.
Up to now, it was the hyperlink between eggs and ldl cholesterol that stirred up controversy. However since 2024 analysis in Cureus discovered that dietary ldl cholesterol doesn’t have a significant impact on blood levels of cholesterol11, all the well being advantages of eggs can now proudly shine. And there are a whole lot of them.
Important Vitamins in Eggs
A 2023 analysis evaluation in Vitamins discovered that eggs might enhance muscle protein synthesis, decrease fats mass, enhance satiety, and had a null impact on the chance of heart problems. In reality, a 2025 evaluation in Vitamins discovered that older adults who consumed between one and 6 eggs every week really confirmed a 29 p.c decrease fee of dying by coronary heart illness12.
Eggs are wealthy in B nutritional vitamins, folate, and fat-soluble nutritional vitamins A, D, E, and Okay. They’re additionally one of many richest dietary sources of choline, a nutrient that impacts liver perform, mind improvement, and metabolism.
In fact, not everybody will reap the identical advantages of consuming eggs. Based on Asprey, widespread egg allergy symptoms can result in low-grade irritation in many individuals. “Check your self to see when you really feel higher with out eggs,” he suggests. Even when you do really feel OK with eggs, he notes that it’s a good suggestion to “take a break each from time to time.”
“I wouldn’t overdo them,” he says, “as a result of consuming too many may cause an egg sensitivity in some individuals.”
If You’re Taking a Hiatus on Eggs
“It isn’t needed to incorporate eggs in your eating regimen when you can’t discover them or in the event that they’re too costly.”
Dave Asprey, Writer of Closely Meditated
Nowadays, selecting top-quality eggs could be a significantly tall order. Asprey notes that when you’ve bought the selection between a low-quality egg and no egg in any respect, it’s higher to err on the facet of warning. “It isn’t needed to incorporate eggs in your eating regimen when you can’t discover them or in the event that they’re too costly,” he says.
In the event you’re avoiding eggs or simply searching for alternate options, you’ll be able to change egg whites with aquafaba and complete eggs with flax eggs in baking. And take further care to incorporate different sources of key vitamins that you simply may usually get from eggs in your eating regimen. The choline and B nutritional vitamins present in eggs can be present in grass-fed beef liver and wild-caught fish like salmon.
Lastly, if you do get your fingers on some top-quality eggs, deal with them effectively. Strive having fun with one or two gently poached on a mattress of black beans or slowly baked in an heirloom tomato for a scrumptious meal that may showcase the egg at its best.
Sources:
- https://www.cdc.gov/bird-flu/situation-summary/index.html
- https://apnews.com/article/record-egg-prices-usda-bird-flu-virus-92e9f5fbc4e0a792be484a4aee5b9c16
- https://www.businessinsider.com/egg-prices-expensive-avian-bird-flu-changing-tastes-cage-free-2025-1
- https://www.cbsnews.com/information/bird-flu-us-officials-walk-back-plans-to-stop-culling-poultry/
- https://www.latimes.com/setting/story/2024-04-14/nobody-saw-this-coming-california-dairies-scramble-to-guard-herds-against-bird-flu
- https://www.latimes.com/setting/story/2025-03-12/study-shows-widespread-h5n1-bird-flu-infection-in-cattle
- https://www.mdanderson.org/cancerwise/7-bird-flu-questions-answered.h00-159774867.html
- https://www.cdc.gov/bird-flu/prevention/food-safety.html
- https://www.compassioninfoodbusiness.com/latest-news/our-news/2025/01/us-ahead-of-canada-in-cage-free-egg-transition
- https://www.psu.edu/information/agricultural-sciences/story/research-shows-eggs-pastured-chickens-may-be-more-nutritious
- https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11161868/
- https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/17/2/323
