The spread of bird flu has caused a lot of "egg shortage"! Japan is experimenting with alternatives
Recently, a special correspondent of the "Global Times" stationed in Japan went to a supermarket near his home to buy food and saw that the shelves of eggs were empty. When he went to another supermarket far away to find eggs, he found that the value of the eggs had skyrocketed. A Chinese student studying abroad told the reporter: "The price of eggs has risen sharply this year. A box of 10 small eggs used to cost only 100 yen (about 5.25 yuan), but now it is close to 200 yen. This has greatly affected our lives." Many salarymen in Japan are used to having a fried egg, a piece of bread, and a glass of milk for breakfast every morning, and now sometimes they have to remove the fried egg.
According to Japan's "Asahi Shimbun" report on March 26, due to the spread of bird flu, the problem of insufficient supply of eggs in Japan is intensifying. According to statistics from the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan, since the end of October 2022, a total of 81 chicken farms in 26 counties have been confirmed to be infected with bird flu. At present, about 16.45 million chickens have been disinfected, setting a record high. Among them, a total of 15.28 million were laying hens, resulting in a reduction of about 10% in the number of laying hens in Japan. According to the Asahi Shimbun, generally speaking, it will take 3-7 months for chicken farms with bird flu to fully resume production. Although some chicken farms have begun to introduce new chickens, Japan’s Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Tetsuro Nomura said, “It will take about half a year to fully restore the supply of eggs.” In addition, other countries rarely produce raw eggs, making Japan’s “egg shortage” difficult to rely on. Import resolves.
The supply of eggs is in short supply, which brings the problem of rising prices. The data showed that the average wholesale price of a medium-sized egg per kilogram in Osaka was 332 yen last month, 158 yen higher than last February and the highest on record since 1993. At present, the price of eggs is still rising. Many supermarkets have already sold out eggs, and the hotel industry has been affected. In addition, eggs are also widely used in processed foods, such as mayonnaise, cakes and other snack products, and the "egg shortage" has deeply affected the production of these foods.
Faced with the "egg shortage", a Japanese friend living in the country told the reporter: "We simply raise chickens in the yard, but it will take a year and a half for the chickens to lay eggs." Helpless, can only find another way. Housewives who used to use eggs to make cakes, biscuits and other snacks began to try to use raw materials other than eggs, such as applesauce, banana puree, soybeans, chia seeds and so on.
According to a report by Japan's Jiji News Agency on the 26th, affected by the "egg shortage", some food companies are working hard to promote egg substitutes. Nissui, a major Japanese seafood company, has launched "Tamagoyaki" made with fish instead of eggs. Japanese food brand "Kubi" launched "HOBOTAMA" (a paste food similar to scrambled eggs - editor's note), which uses soy milk and almond powder instead of eggs, and it has been widely welcomed.
