WA Auditor’s Report Raises Concerns over WSDA Egg Inspections

According to a report from the WA State Auditor, the Washington State Department of Agriculture is lagging badly in its legally-mandated egg inspection program.

   Report says dozens of inspections not performed

By law, WSDA must inspect egg production facilities once a year, and visit egg packing facilities every quarter. Production facilities are where the eggs are laid by the chickens and then gathered and transported to packing plants.

Packing plants are where they are washed, graded, and prepared for transport to stores and markets.

There are 68 production facilities in the state, during the period between July 1st of 2021 and June 30th of 2023, only about 11 percent of the required inspections were performed. Out of a total of 548 required inspections, the WSDA only performed 11.

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According to the WSDA, they are extremely short-staffed, and the staffing issue was made worse by COVID-19.  WSDA says it's been suffering staffing issues even before the pandemic.  WSDA officials also feared that the presence of inspectors could further spread the avian flu.

The Auditor's office says the lack of inspections raises serious health and safety questions for consumers across Washington state. The Auditor's report suggests WSDA implement procedures ensuring inspections are performed more regularly, and to make sure they coincide with Federal laws as well.