Picture of empty egg shelves shows grim Aussie reality
Empty supermarket shelves are revealing a dire reality for Australians as bird flu inundates poultry farms across the country.
Woolworths limited the number of egg cartons customers can purchase across most of Australia’s east coast as the industry continues to be hit by a deadly strain of bird flu.
The two-pack limit per person has impacted consumers in NSW, ACT and Victoria since Thursday.
The supermarket giant explained the impact was simply a “delay” in stock after a suspected outbreak of avian flu was identified at an egg farm adjoining a packing shed.
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Empty egg shelves at Mortdale Woolworths. Newswire Credit: News Corp Australia
“Along with other retailers, we’re expecting a short-term delay in stock from one of our egg suppliers in NSW, ACT and Victoria, due to the temporary closure of one of their packing sheds,” a Woolworths spokeswoman said.
“Their supply is expected to recover over the next week as they ramp up operations at their other sites.”
The supermarket said the purchase limit will act as “as a precaution” to help manage stock issues in the coming months.
“Right now, the majority of customers are only buying one carton of eggs at a time, and there’s no reason that should change,” the spokeswoman said.
Another Woolworths in Sydney with eggs in stock. Newswire Credit: News Corp Australia
But empty shelves are now been seen across the country, despite restrictions to prevent the shortage.
A Melbourne man took to X to share the shelves at his local store with the caption: “They’re slaughtering all the chickens. NO EGGS”.
NewsWire has obtained images from various other stores in Sydney showing the same issue.
Coles was the first supermarket to impose restrictions on egg purchases in all states except WA on June 9.
Customers have been notified of the egg limit. Newswire Credit: News Corp Australia
Australia is grappling with an Avian flu outbreak, which has spread from Victoria into NSW.
An ACT-based commercial egg farm has also been locked down, with products, eggs and machinery barred from leaving the premises after it was suspected NSW’s bird flu outbreak had spread to the farm.
McDonald’s is also feeling the pressure, announcing on Tuesday it will be reducing the window offering the breakfast menu in the hopes of using less eggs.
The fast-food giant will only serve breakfast until 10.30am rather than midday.
It is not clear how long the change will last.
More than one million birds have been culled as a result to try and stop the spread of the outbreak.