Valley stores limit egg purchases amid shortage, customers line up early to get theirs

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Valley stores are cracking down connected ovum income arsenic the Costco nine astatine the country of Shaw and Clovis avenues limits members to 3 cartons.

"I got my eggs," Ruben Barela said. "And convey God I got them."

Barela drove from Parlier for the 2nd day.

Costco was retired of eggs erstwhile helium showed up astatine 2 p.m. connected Thursday.

On Friday, helium woke up aboriginal and joined dozens of customers outside.

They were anxious to bargain each the eggs they could arsenic the store opened.

"They told maine to travel aboriginal contiguous truthful I could get some," Barela said.

"Because eggs are truly costly close now."

A container of 5 twelve cage-free eggs for $17.99, astir $3.60 per dozen, seemed to beryllium the astir fashionable product.

Barela bought three.

"It's benignant of inexpensive close present due to the fact that everyplace other - If you spell to a regular market, it's $7 conscionable for a dozen," Barela said.

The cheapest eggs were $7.59 for a twelve astatine the Vons adjacent Fowler and Herndon.

The steep prices travel amid an outbreak of avian flu. Birds person tested affirmative passim the country, including astatine a duck workplace successful Merced County.

"It's highly contagious. It's not a question of if the different birds are going to get it. It's conscionable however quickly," Ryan Jacobsen astatine the Fresno County Farm Bureau said.

"They're guaranteed it's going to dispersed that accelerated wrong the operation."

Jacobsen says sick poultry has to beryllium killed and their eggs destroyed.

The USDA present predicts ovum prices volition emergence by up to 20 percent this year.

"But arsenic we spell done the adjacent mates of months, I expect things to get amended than we saw successful the past month," Jacobsen said.

"As acold arsenic an nonstop timeline, we don't cognize what that is astatine this point."

For now, the ovum shortage has sent immoderate buyers into a panic. Just past week, images amusement eggs overflowing from a buying cart astatine the Costco successful Clovis.

It wiped retired shelves and meant Rosa from Sanger had to halt baking.

"It's amended that we person them for the morning," Rosa said.

Amid the shortage, information from Google reveals that searches for "egg substitutes" person precocious spiked.

Several shoppers told Action News they would not adjacent see alternatives.

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