June 30, 1999

USDA is proposing to amend the shell egg grade standards to simplify and clarify terminology used to grade shell eggs and remove information from the standards that is no longer of value to the industry.

Standards of quality are used to classify individual eggs according to characteristics that are acceptable to and desired by producers, dealers and consumers. The standards also define "loss" eggs to identify the small percentage of eggs produced that are unacceptable and undesirable. This definition includes inedible eggs, but there also is a separate definition for "inedible eggs" that includes examples of such eggs. To simplify these definitions, the proposed amendments would delete the separate definition of "inedible eggs" and add the list of examples to the definition of "loss" eggs.

The proposed changes were published in the June 29 Federal Register.