Ds BULLETIN 664, U. S. mea | OF AGRICULTURE. 
The need for the elimination of waste and loss in the transfer of 
food from the producer to the consumer suggests that the breakage 
of eggs in transit carries with it a loss-6f both money and food which 
it is highly desirable to prevent. The investigation reported in this: 
bulletin was undertaken to determine the causes of such damage. 
Suggestions for lessening the extent of the damage are also in- 
cluded. The investigation was made with the hearty cooperation 
of the shippers and receivers of eggs, as well as of the carriers. 
To obtain the maximum of ease and efficiency, the joint confer- 
ence committee! acted for both shippers and carriers, and handled 
all matters requiring concerted action on the part of the cooperaters. 
Without such an organization this investigation could not have been _ 
made, and this opportunity is taken to express to the committee, to 
the industry, and to the carriers an appreciation of the assistance 
rendered. 
| AMOUNT OF DAMAGE TO EGGS DURING MARKETING. 
The amount of damage sustained in the marketing of eggs can not 
be stated with exactness. Estimates by those familiar with condi- 
tions, and experiments conducted to determine the rate of deteriora- 
tion in eggs during their journey to the consumer, however, have 
given figures which are worthy of consideration. In 1909, Hastings? 
stated that the usual western produce dealer, whose supplies come by 
local freight, receives from 4 to 7 per cent of cracked eggs, and that 8 
per cent of broken eggs from the hen to the market is probably a fair 
estimate. In 1913, Lamon and Opperman? studied egg deterioration 
between the farm and the egg-packing house, and shipped eggs under 
conditions distinctly better than the average. They reported 2.7 per 
cent cracked eggs, and so few leakers that the percentage is not given. 
A study made in the Food Research Laboratory, of the Bureau of 
Chemistry, instituted for another purpose, which will be reported in 
detail in another publication, showed that about 6.19 per cent 
of cracked eggs were received by one shipper in a western State dur- 
ing the months of April to August, inclusive, when the total volume 
of eggs handled amounted to over 1,357,000 dozen. In 1910, Pen- 
nington and Pierce * reported that the examination of over a quarter 
of a million dozen eggs. received in the city of New York, showed 
8.98 per cent. cracked. 
1The joint conference committee consists of representatives from the National Poultry, 
Butter, and Egg Association, for the industry, and from the General Managers Association 
of Chicago, for the railroads, in cooperation with a representative of the United States 
Department of Agriculture. Its object is, primarily, to improve the quality of poultry, 
butter, and eggs on the market, and prevent waste and loss. 
2U. S. Dept. Agr., Bureau of Animal Industry Circ. 140. 
3U. S. Dept. Agr., Bureau of Animal Industry Bul. 160. 
4The Effect of the Present Method of Handling Eggs on the Industry and the Produk 
U. S. Dept. Agr. Yearbook (1910) Separate 552. 
