McDonald's Australia Shortens Breakfast Hours Amid Nationwide Egg Shortage Crisis

McDonald's Australia has shortened its breakfast service hours to 10:30 a.m. due to an egg shortage caused by an avian flu outbreak. The fast-food chain is working with local farmers to restore normalcy.

McDonald's Australia Shortens Breakfast Service Due to Egg Shortage from Avian Flu Outbreak

Be advised, fast-food breakfast sandwich enthusiasts: It may be prudent to refrain from placing all of your eggs in a single container. According to Fortune, McDonald's has reduced its breakfast service by one and a half hours in Australia, terminating it at 10:30 a.m. instead of noon due to egg shortages caused by the avian flu.

“Like many retailers, we are carefully managing the supply of eggs due to current industry challenges,” McDonald’s said in a Facebook post. “We are working hard with our Aussie farmers and suppliers to return this back to normal as soon as possible.”

The fast-food chain, affectionately referred to as Macca's on the other side of the International Date Line, has 970 locations in Australia. However, the shortage has affected more than just fast-food enthusiasts. After the detection of the highly contagious avian flu H7N3 (a distinct strain of the H5N1 flu that has not been identified in Australia) at five farms on the continent, Coles Group, an Australian supermarket chain, began restricting customer purchases to two cartons of eggs per day. The flu has affected 11 poultry facilities, primarily egg farms since the virus started circulating in May.

To contain the disease's spread, which can be fatal to livestock, including cows, poultry farms have quarantined their animals and conducted mass euthanasia of more than half a million chickens. Approximately 450,000 embryos are destroyed each day to prevent the virus from spreading. Nevertheless, industry professionals assert that the most significant supper of the day has yet to be at risk, even though those figures may appear substantial.

“Consumers can be assured there are still over 20 million hens under the care of hundreds of egg farmers across Australia that will continue to work hard to ensure there’s eggs on shelves,” Rowan McMonnies, managing director of industry group Australian Eggs, said last week.

Bird Flu Devastates U.S. Poultry Industry, but Fast-Food Breakfasts Remain Unaffected

The avian virus has also caused significant damage in the United States, although fast-food breakfasts are currently unaffected. From February 2022 to June of this year, bird flu claimed the lives of 96 million domestic and commercial birds across the country. In April, Cal-Maine Foods, the nation's largest egg producer, temporarily suspended operations and slaughtered 1.6 million laying chickens, which accounted for nearly 4% of its flock, following the discovery of bird flu.

The imminent epidemic will not affect the dietary habits of the majority of Americans. Ultimately, U.S. health officials advised consumers to pasteurize milk before consuming it, as they conducted tests on milk sold in stores to detect the presence of the virus. Cooked chicken, eggs, and hamburgers cooked between 145 and 160 degrees Fahrenheit were also deemed acceptable for consumption.

Egg prices in the United States have increased by over 15% to $2.99 for a dozen large Grade A eggs from January to April, even though these staple foods do not pose a health hazard. This information is based on data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Although mass euthanasia guarantees the safety of flocks, it also devalues the supply, as the process of replacing deceased birds is time-consuming.

“You’re taking out all the baseline egg production for up to three months at a time,” Andrew Stevens, an agricultural economist at the University of Wisconsin, told CBS MoneyWatch. “You’re paying for that lag time it takes to shore up and build back up production.”

Although egg and livestock shortages have affected fast-food menus in the United States, the industry is beginning to undergo adjustments. In March, Chick-fil-A began to abandon its "no antibiotics ever" pledge and instead adopted an industry standard that prohibits the use of antibiotics unless a chicken is ailing. It followed in the footsteps of poultry giants Pilgrim's Pride and Tyson Foods as producers endeavor to preserve the health of their close-quartered chickens in the face of widespread disease.

McDonald's has assured consumers that certain items on its menu will remain unchanged despite the industry's efforts to establish stability.

“PS,” McDonald’s Facebook post said. “Hash Browns are still available all day.”

Photo: Microsoft Bing