TOKYO -- An avian influenza outbreak and rising feed costs are behind a shortage of chicken eggs in Japan that has led to rising prices for popular restaurant items including beef bowl dishes as well as the household staple mayonnaise.
Poultry farmers were already reducing the number of egg-laying hens in response to soaring feed prices fueled by the war in Ukraine when bird flu hit Japan late last year. The increase in chicken culls has made the supply of eggs unstable, causing wholesale prices to skyrocket.
