Amid price spike, Californians bring eggs across the border from Mexico
LOS ANGELES — With egg prices spiking in California, Border Patrol agents have noticed a rise in the number of people trying to bring eggs across the border from Mexico, which is illegal.
Inflation and bird flu have also pushed up egg prices in Mexico, but the cost of a dozen eggs south of the border is still much lower — up to half as much — as in the U.S., tempting some border crossers to look for new ways to fill their fridges with cheaper eggs.
“They are significantly less expensive in Mexico than the U.S.,” said Gerrelaine Alcordo, spokesperson for Customs and Border Protection in San Diego. “This is also occurring with added frequency at other Southwest border locations as well.”
Despite the potential savings for border crossers, customs officials are warning: Don’t try it.
Customs and Border Protection’s San Diego office tweeted out a reminder last month that uncooked eggs are not allowed into the U.S. from Mexico because of the risk of spreading bird flu and Newcastle disease. The danger does not come from eating the eggs. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, no bird flu infections have been reported from people eating properly cooked eggs or poultry. Instead, the risk comes from touching surfaces contaminated with the virus, such as unwashed egg shells and soiled containers, experts say.
At the San Diego field office, border agents seized eggs and poultry products during 1,512 inspections between Oct. 1 and Dec. 31, an increase of 384% when compared to the previous year, according to numbers provided by the agency.
Other ports of entry at the southern border have seen similar surges.
At the Tucson field office in Arizona, agents seized eggs and poultry items 701 times during the same time period, a jump of 300% from the previous year.
In Texas, Charles Payne, the customs agency’s supervisory agriculture specialist, told the Border Report news site that agents there had seen an increase of 108% in the number of eggs seized from Oct. 1 to Dec. 31.
In Laredo, agents have seen a 313% increase.
The cost for a dozen eggs in the U.S. dropped slightly by February, but customs officials said they are still seeing people trying to bring in eggs from Mexico.
“We continue to see higher than average numbers of prohibited poultry products,” Alcordo said. “Even one uncooked egg is too many, due to the risk it could pose to American agriculture.”
Despite the spike in egg seizures at the border, Alcordo said most attempts to cross the border with raw eggs had not been surreptitious smuggling efforts or large-scale operations.