That expiration date on the side of the dozen eggs you buy at the supermarket could soon have a bit less meaning.
More than three decades after requiring that eggs be sold within 24 days after being laid, state lawmakers are moving to loosen those restrictions β to a full six weeks.
Legislation offered by Rep. Jill Norgaard, R-Phoenix, would amend existing law to say the βsell byβ date could be 45 days after an egg is βcandledβ and still be called AA eggs, the highest standard. Thatβs actually longer than the U.S. Department of Agriculture permits for eggs with the agencyβs label.
But eggs sold without that USDA blessing are governed by the laws of the state. And thatβs what Norgaard wants to change.
The impetus actually comes from the Arizona Retailers Association, the folks who market the eggs directly to consumers. Lobbyist Michelle Ahlmer said they believe thereβs no reason they should have to yank the eggs from store refrigerator shelves after 24 days and dump them.
But even Ahlmer conceded that 45-day shelf life may be hard for consumers β and lawmakers β to swallow. So she said the retailers are going to offer to scale that back when HB 2464 goes to the House Commerce Committee on Tuesday.
The question is at what point eggs should not be sold to consumers.
Ahlmer says most states already allow anywhere from 30 to 45 days after being packaged. And she said while they may not be quite as fresh β perhaps the yolk doesnβt stand up as tall in the middle of the white β thereβs nothing inherently wrong with them.
But Glenn Hickman, owner of the egg ranch that bears his family name, said itβs not that simple.
He said testing done by state agricultural officials when the dating law was first enacted in 1984 showed that eggs met the AA standard of firmness of the yolk and the egg white through 24 days. By day 25, he said, one or more out of a dozen did not.
That same test, he said, was repeated three decades later and βthe results were exactly the same.β
Yes, Hickman conceded, the fact that they may be less pleasing does not make them unhealthy. But he said consumers are not getting what they pay for.
βGetting cheated out of a couple of ounces of gas is not unsafe or unhealthy, either,β he said. βBut itβs still not right.β
Mark Killian, director of the state Department of Agriculture who has purview over egg-laying operations, is staying out of the legislative fray.
But he said the judgment of what is βfreshβ is an interesting question.
For example, he said, itβs not unusual for eggs to be kept available for sale in Europe for a month, even without refrigeration.
But Killian said itβs not that simple. He said thatβs based on the eggs not being washed before being packaged.
βThatβs because when the hen lays the egg she puts a coating on it,β he explained. βBut once you wash the egg and wash that coating off, it has to be refrigerated.β
Ahlmer, for her part, said the legislation should be seen as working in the benefit of consumers.
βIf thereβs a carton of eggs or a gallon of milk or something that has an expiration date on it, and Iβm shopping on Feb. 9 and it expires on Feb. 12, Iβm likely to look for one that has a later expiration date,β she said.
βWhat happens is those that donβt get sold have to be disposed of because we canβt give them to food banks,β Ahlmer said. βSo we wind up throwing it out.β
She estimated that retailers toss about $3 million worth of eggs a year. Ahlmer said, though, she did not know what percentage that is of what is offered for sale.
And thereβs something else: Ahlmer said the change will βopen up our market so we can get more eggs in here.β
That goes to the question of how Arizona ended up with dating on egg cartons in the first place. And, as with this legislation, thereβs as political story behind it β and an effort by someone to sell more product.
Prior to 1984, there was no Arizona law requiring there be codes on egg cartons that consumers could read to tell the freshness of the product.
Pat Wright, then a representative from Glendale, noted that many grocers were buying their eggs from California ranchers.
She figured that if eggs had to be sold within a certain number of days after being laid, that would increase the incentive to buy from a local rancher who could get them to market two or three days earlier. And that translated into more time to sell.
And while the 24-day clock was set by Carl Biehler, the state egg inspector at the time, Wright made no secret of the reason she sponsored the measure.
It was to benefit Hickmanβs Egg Ranch, the stateβs largest producer β and coincidentally located at the time in her legislative district.
Hickmanβs has since decamped to more rural locations, with Arizona operations in Arlington, Tonopah and Maricopa.
Ahlmer, for her part, said she could make no promise that letting her retailers leave eggs for sale on grocery shelves will result in lower prices.
But she argued that some consumers who see that βsell byβ date and think of it as more of a βuse byβ date end up throwing them out.
Ahlmer said if the date on the carton is extended, then buyers will save if for no other reason than they wonβt toss them quite as quickly.