The New York Times reported last week that the FDA stamped an ongoing egg recall with its “highest-risk” designation, indicating contaminated eggs could cause “serious adverse health consequences or death.”
Incidentally, we ran out of eggs in my house this morning. No plans to remedy that at the moment.
I assume I’m not alone. In large enough numbers, similar responses could drive down consumption, reducing prices as perfectly good inventory is left to spoil in an anxiety-induced limbo.
A silver lining? Perhaps. Egg prices have fallen sharply of late, but if you zoom out to the post-COVID era, they’ve been on an extended upward tear.
Stubborn egg price inflation, coupled with concerns over health effects – this is a song we’ve heard before. I’ll leave it to Robert Samuelson – author of The Great Inflation and Its Aftermath – to explain, citing Joseph Califano:
“‘When egg prices rose in the spring of 1966 and [the agriculture secretary] told [President Lyndon Johnson] that not much could be done, Johnson had the Surgeon General issue alerts as to the hazards of cholesterol in eggs.’”
Clever, I suppose?
Starry-eyed idealists – admittedly, a younger me – often imagine policymaking as a thoughtful undertaking in which the sharpest minds, debating vigorously, deliver serious solutions to our most vexing problems. The Surgeon General using his bully pulpit to battle inflation? That would be silly, outlandish.
But Adult Me? I believe Califano.
I’m not saying the FDA is putting its thumb on the scale to bring down egg prices. This recall is no joke, and we should all proceed with caution. But I still wonder whether one policy objective, however appropriate, has cross-contaminated another.
Whether salmonella has inadvertently become a promo code.
Who knows. My household will certainly avoid omelets for a few more weeks.
Hmmm….. Interesting. It is certainly something to think about! An enjoyable read! Thx!