COOPERATIVE EXTENSION UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA

A Summary of Regulations of the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) Pertaining to Eggs and Egg Container Brand Registration

POULTRY FACT SHEET NO. 24 - Revised September 2002

Donald Bell, Extension Poultry Specialist University of California, Riverside, CA 95616
Ralph Ernst, Extension Poultry Specialist, Animal Science Department, University of California, Davis 95616

---

• California standards of quality for individual shell eggs are applicable only to eggs that are a product of domesticated chickens.
• No eggs lower than Grade B shall be sold for human consumption.
• Blood eggs are classified as inedible and cannot be sold for human consumption.
• Eggs in the shell are exempt from standards established by these regulations when being transported:
1. From a location which does not have proper or adequate facilities for grading to a shell egg grading plant that does.
2. To first point of grading.
• Each container or sub-container of processed shell eggs shall be marked with name, address and zip code of the person or company by or for whom the eggs were graded and packed, the Julian packing date, a “Sell By Date” that is no more than 30 days from the pack date, the descriptor “Keep Refrigerated” and the unabbreviated designation of one of the following sizes and grades:

Size: Jumbo, Extra Large, Large, Medium, Small, Peewee

Grade: AA, A, B

• Processed eggs must be held under refrigeration in rooms kept at 45^oF or below from packing until sale to consumers.
• Any advertisement, sign or placard, which indicates the price of eggs for sale, must also use the full designation of size and grade.
• Superlative descriptions or other amplifications of grade or size are not permitted on containers. Examples include: Fancy, select, superior, premium, giant, etc.
• Descriptive terms such as "polyunsaturated, higher in iodine," etc. must be approved by the CDFA.
• The terms "organic" or "organically produced" are allowed only if the producer is licensed as an organic producer by CDFA.
• Size, grade, name and address markings are not required on containers or sub-containers:
1. If sold at retail from a properly marked bulk display and packaged in the presence of the purchaser.
2. If packed for shipment or in transit to points outside the state.
3. If sold to household consumers without advertising by the producer on the premises where produced, from a flock of 500 hens or less.
4. If being delivered from outside the state to dealers for candling and grading.
5. If being delivered to, or in possession of, a dealer for candling and grading.
6. If packed for sale to the military forces of the US, labeled with one of the USDA's grades.
• Eggs labeled "fertile" must be at least 85% fertile.
• Polyunsaturated eggs (to be so labeled or advertised) must contain at least 2% polyunsaturated fatty acids.
• Properly labeled, restricted eggs (dirties and checks) may be sold directly to consumers only as follows:
1. By a shell egg producer from his own flock's production, at the site of production or segregation,
2. At secondary locations operated by the producer-packer for the primary purpose of shell egg retail sales
3. By a shell egg packer at the grading station where grading or segregation occurred. Proper labeling is required.

4. Checks and dirties - direct sales to consumers: May be sold directly to a consumer for exclusive use by his household and nonpaying guests in quantities not to exceed 30 dozen per sale.
5. Inedible eggs (diffused bloods, leakers, incubator rejects) are unfit for human food and must be denatured, labeled and used for animal foods or industrial products only.
• Any person engaged in business in California as a shell egg dealer (a person engaged in the business of producing, candling, grading, packing or otherwise preparing shell eggs for market, sale or distribution) shall register with the California Department of Food and Agriculture prior to June 30 of each year.
• It is unlawful for any person to sell as "fresh eggs," "ranch eggs" or "farm eggs" or to represent as being fresh, any eggs which are below the quality of grade A or which have been held in cold storage more than 30 days.
• It is unlawful to make any false or misleading representation concerning quality, size, weight, conditions, source, origin, or any other matter relating to eggs.
• It is unlawful for any person to sell to any retailer, consumer, or institutional consumer, any eggs that are ungraded as to quality except under CDFA approval that an emergency exists.

Direct questions to: CDFA Egg Inspection, 1220 N Street, Sacramento, CA 95814; telephone (916) 654-0800.