Fact check: False claim that egg yolk study is linked to higher egg prices, chicken farm fires

Sudiksha Kochi, USA TODAY
·3 min read
5

The claim: Egg yolk antibody study is connected to higher egg prices and chicken farm fires

A Feb. 2 Facebook post (direct link, archived link) shows a screenshot of a 2020 study titled "Chicken Egg Yolk Antibodies (IgYs) block the binding of multiple SARS-CoV-2 spike protein variants to human ACE2."

"Well well well," reads the post's caption. "Now you know why the price skyrocketed and chicken farms are burning down."

Similar posts have accumulated hundreds of interactions on Instagram.

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Our rating: False

There is no evidence the 2020 study referenced in the post has any connection to higher egg prices and chicken farm fires. An avian flu is responsible for higher egg prices. Heating equipment and electrical system malfunctions caused the majority of fires in animal housing facilities – and have for years, according to the Fire Protection Research Foundation.

Study not connected to egg prices and farm fires

The 2020 study has no relevance to higher egg prices or chicken farm fires, according to Dr. Richard Martinello, an infectious disease specialist at Yale University.

Researchers in a lab attempted to find a tool for the prevention and control of the COVID-19 virus. They found that immunoglobulin Y's – antibodies found in egg yolk – showed "significant neutralizing potency" against COVID-19.

The study does not mention egg prices or chicken farm fires.

The reduction of egg production and rise in prices is connected to an avian flu, Rodrigo Gallardo, professor in poultry medicine at the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, told USA TODAY in an email.

The avian flu began spreading among birds through saliva, feces and nasal secretions in February 2022, as USA TODAY reported. The outbreak has since killed over 43 million egg-laying hens between, according to the Department of Agriculture. It also resulted in 29% lower egg inventories in the final week of December 2022 compared to the beginning of the year.

And the fires at chicken farms are nothing new or suspicious, experts say. A Feb. 1 blog post on the National Fire Protection Association's website noted these types of fires happen relatively frequently.

"When we see fires occurring at poultry storage facilities or at barns, we're not really seeing anything out of the ordinary," Birgitte Messerschmidt, director of the agency's research division, said in the blog post. "It's simply the continuation of what we in the world of fire safety and fire statistics have been seeing play out for years."

Fact check: False claim food plant fires are evidence of planned food shortages

The leading causes of fires in animal housing facilities are heating equipment and electrical system malfunctions, according to an August 2022 report from the Fire Protection Research Foundation.

USA TODAY has debunked other claims about the egg shortage, including baseless assertions that it is linked to Bill Gates and that RNA sequencing in chicken feed is making chickens lay fewer eggs.

USA TODAY reached out to the social media users who shared the claim for comment.

Lead Stories and Reuters also debunked the claim.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Fact check: 2020 study not linked to higher egg prices, farm fires