Group proposes selling eggs per kilo

Group proposes selling eggs per kilo

MANILA, Philippines — An egg group yesterday proposed that eggs be sold per kilo instead of per piece as retailers manipulate the actual sizes to earn more profits.

In a radio interview, AGAP party-list Rep. Nicanor Briones, who also chairs the Pork Producers Federation of the Philippines and Egg Council of the Philippines, said that eggs are sold by size depending on their weight.

“The sizing of eggs is per gram, so we have standard grams for each size, that’s the basis,” Briones said, referring to the cost of eggs based on the sizes, ranging from small, medium, large, extra-large and jumbo.

He added that retailers often change the sizes of the eggs and sell them instead of the actual price.

“It is better to have a weighing scale when buying eggs or instead sell the eggs per kilo, but consumers should be able to check the actual weight of eggs to make sure that what is being bought is actually small, medium, large, extra-large or jumbo. At least it can be verified whether the eggs being bought have correct weight,” Briones said.

There is high demand for eggs amid the increase in consumption during the holiday season, according to the lawmaker-cum-egg group leader.

“Small eggs are sold as medium or medium (sized eggs) are sold as large,” he said.

He added that the high demand for eggs would persist until January next year.

“We all know that during the holidays many use eggs for cakes, bread and other uses, causing an increase in the demand and also result in the upward trend in retail prices, but this should be temporary up to January. (In the) first week of January, there is a possibility that the demand will start to go down and the prices will also go down,” Briones said.

He stressed that traders bought the correct sizes of eggs from local producers and, therefore, should also be sold accurately.

“If it’s small, medium or large, you can be sure that it is the right size. The changes (in sizes) happen in retail. There is a possibility that from the farms, the traders change the sizes when sold in the markets,” he explained.

Based on monitoring of the Department of Agriculture (DA), the retail price of medium-sized eggs is at least P8.50 per kilo.

Meanwhile, Briones said that the DA should hasten the process of allowing the use of avian influenza vaccine amid the continuous threat of bird flu.

“First, the DA should act to ensure the availability of the vaccine against avian influenza as the vaccine is already available in other countries and it was proven effective already,” he added.

He noted that in San Jose, Batangas alone, which is considered as the egg capital of the Philippines, at least 12 million to 15 million eggs are produced daily.