With the high price of eggs a prominent economic problem, we have to ask on this Super Bowl Sunday, does the NFL have influence over the price of chicken wings?
Apparently, no.
Chicken wings have remained abundant and affordable while we’ve seen Waffle House adding egg surcharges and some stores rationing eggs.
According to NPR, the reason chicken and eggs prices have not risen in tandem is because the avian flu has affected flocks of egg laying hens and those produced for their meat very differently.
Chickens raised for meat — known as "broilers" — live on different farms than those that produce eggs. And while broilers are not immune from avian flu, they haven't been hit nearly as hard as their egg-laying cousins. "They're younger typically, and older birds are more susceptible to the virus," says Tom Super of the National Chicken Council. "And broiler chickens are also not on the farm as long — only about seven weeks."
The short life cycle of broilers is on the side of Super Bowl carnivores. When a flock of broilers is lost to the avian flu, they are much quicker to replace than egg laying hens.
The National Chicken Council projects that Americans will gobble up 1.47 billion wings during Super Bowl weekend, 20 million more than last year.
And along with chicken wings remaining relatively affordable, the kicker is that celery, a popular accompaniment to wings, is down 8% from last year.
