Carlotta Foitzick | Egg & Poultry Program Manager | (385) 227-1891

The mission of the Egg and Poultry Program is two-fold. First, to provide grading services to determine the quality and assure Utah’s shell eggs, egg products, and poultry are safe and wholesome. Second, to enforce federal grading standards and regulations, ensuring uniformity and compliance throughout all of Utah’s egg and poultry industry.

Utah’s Egg and Poultry Program provides critical services. Eggs are a fundamental source of nutrition. In the 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, eggs are recommended for pregnant women, lactating moms, and for everyone starting as early as a baby’s first solid foods. As valuable and important as shell eggs, egg products and poultry are, unfortunately, they are also capable of carrying bacteria and need special processing and handling to make them safe for the public. Because of this, the Division of Regulatory Services provides grading services to ensure that all Utah’s shell eggs, egg products, and poultry are of good quality, wholesome, and safe for consumers. 

Utah is considered a surplus state. We not only produce enough eggs to supply our local populations, but we also can supply eggs to other states and other countries. Each day, somewhere in Utah, eggs are being packaged and shipped to a foreign customer.  Approximately 2 million dozen eggs are produced each week in Utah.

The Egg and Poultry Program provides highly trained and competent grading personnel to accurately grade shell egg and poultry carcasses. Grading involves physical examination of the products and application of appropriate grade designation: AA, A, B, C, Non-Grade, or Under-Grades. Grading provides second-party verification of the quality of shell eggs and poultry, which both enhances the farmer’s ability to market the product and the consumer’s confidence in the purchase of the product.