No yolk - NY egg prices soar as bird flu rages

NEW YORK - In some stores, the price of eggs has jumped so much that they are now being sold individually.

As the avian flu pandemic rocking the United States has spread like wildfire, forcing poultry farmers to cull 26 million birds, prices have skyrocketed.

In the Big Apple, a box of 12 eggs reached an average price of $8.47 according to a note issued by the US Department of Agriculture Thursday. 

Prices are already higher than consumers are used to after years of inflation.

The idea of selling "singles," a practice more commonly associated with cigarettes, came to bodega owner Radhames Rodriguez when customers began to complain that they could no longer afford his eggs.

"It's too expensive. I've never seen the price like that on the eggs. I've been in business for over almost 40 years," said Rodriguez, owner of Pamela's Green Deli, where loudspeakers were blaring Latin music.

A quarter of people living in New York, the largest and richest US city, are below the poverty line, with the surging price of eggs -- reaching $15 a dozen in some stores -- hitting people hard.

"Egg prices are through the roof right now and so at a time like this, we felt it was our duty and responsibility to make eggs accessible," said Abou Sow, the boss of Prince Abou's Butchery, one of the businesses handing out the free boxes.

Prices have reached historic highs with the impact of bird flu compounded by the dependence of consumers and retailers on a single large-scale producer, according to a study by the NYC Food Policy Center at Hunter College.

Across the United States, egg prices have doubled in a year, according to official data, with Democrats calling for an inquiry.

The government insists it is in talks with several countries to secure imported eggs, and earlier this week, US President Donald Trump's administration said it would invest up to $1 billion to address the egg crisis.