An informed source in the Ontario egg-grading business says Canadian egg graders have imported about 50 loads of U.S. eggs on supplementary import permits since Nov. 1.
A couple of supermarket chains sold the eggs on special - $1.88 at Wal-Mart, three dozen for $5 at Metro stores.
I fully expect there will be another record volume of surplus eggs dumped into the market in January, all to be moved to processing at the expense of egg farmers.
An informed source says one of Ontario's biggest grading stations had plenty of Ontario eggs this year - so many that the company had trouble keeping up with grading and was cautioned by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency to do a better job of ensuring that Grade A cartons contain fresh eggs.
I wonder if the same CFIA staff cautioned L.H. Gray and Sons Ltd. to refrain from putting cracks into Grade A cartons. So far the CFIA has said nary a word about court documents alleging that L.H. Gray and Sons Ltd. included about five per cent cracks in its retail-ready cartons of Grade A eggs. Whistleblower Norman Bourdeau estimates that bloated Gray's profits by $15 million or more per year for 10 years or more.
Gray's lawyers contend the company did nothing wrong. Either a judge will decide or there will be an out-of-court settlement that is highly unlikely to include any admissions of guilt.