Illinois ‘Cracked Egg’ Law is Ridiculous

Did you know that if you come across a carton of eggs while shopping, and discover one egg is cracked, that the entire carton of eggs must be thrown out? Only in Illinois!From time to time we have reported on stupid laws that are in effect in our fair state but this "Humpty Dumpty" law is ludicrous and has been on the books for years, and now Illinois lawmakers are looking to change it.

Think about it, If you have a carton of eggs in your refrigerator and you discover one egg is broken, do you throw away the other eleven eggs? No! That would be wasteful. It's bad enough that eggs are now cost over $2.00 a dozen.

The law is called the Illinois Egg and Egg Products Act. The law, as it stands now, requires a retailer to destroy an entire carton of eggs if one egg is discovered to be broken or cracked instead of simply replacing the egg.

Illinois State Senator Dave Syverson pointed out this ridiculous law in a Facebook Post.

Syverson says:

You cannot replace the cracked egg. You cannot donate the remaining eggs to a food pantry.  Yes, we are working to repeal that law. Here's the interesting point; somebody had to actually introduce a bill in the past, get the legislature to approve it, and have a governor signed it into law requiring eggs to be thrown out.  So next time you say they had commonsense in the old days remember this

Why was this law crafted in the first place? Pure politics!

Syverson told me that:

Illinois is not the only state with this silly law eight other states have it in place as well. I am thinking this came from a smart group of farmers many years ago who had some good lobbyists.

Springfield, grow up! Let's get this law changed.