Food loss in the egg supply chain

In this study, expert opinions were used to estimate food losses in both the shell egg and spent hen segments of the egg supply chain. For shell eggs, losses are constrained by diverting downgraded or out-sorted eggs into a diverse range of egg products tailored to the needs of food industries and catering. In the spent hen chain, most birds are exported for human consumption, relying heavily on markets in developing countries. Across both chains, redirecting byproducts currently used in pet food into feed for farm animals is identified as a key strategy to further limit food losses.