The Philippine Egg Board (PEB) assured that the apparent shrinking sizes of eggs will not contribute to food inflation as prices have always varied according to their sizes.

In an interview on Saturday, PEB chair Gregorio San Diego explained that eggs have always been classified as small, medium, large and extra-large, and are priced accordingly.

“Of course, if they (eggs) are getting smaller they will be sold for less,” he told the Philippine News Agency.

San Diego said that the exceptionally hot weather in egg-producing provinces today is causing layers to produce smaller eggs.

“During the hottest part of the year, egg sizes are really affected and a little bit watery inside because hens drink a lot of water. This is especially true for conventional poultry houses,” he explained.

He was referring to backyard and other smaller poultry farms that often lack the facilities to shield their layers from the ambient temperature.

Elias Jose Inciong, chair of the Union of Boiler Raisers’ Association, said even broiler chickens grow at a slower pace during the dry season.

However, he pointed out that despite their smaller average size, the production of chicken and eggs has been particularly good lately.

“Eggs at either the farm gate or wholesale level have been selling at only PHP3.60 apiece. They are being dumped in huge quantities at Blumentritt Market [in Manila] where excess eggs are traditionally sold at low prices,” said Inciong.

The Philippine Statistics Authority’s March 2024 inflation report showed that inflation on the milk, other dairy products and eggs cluster decelerated to 2.3 percent compared to 3.5 percent in February and 5.6 percent in January. (PNA)