Egg Grading Services are provided and administered through the USDA Agricultural Marketing Services, Livestock and Poultry Program. Any producers wanting to label their eggs with a standard, grade or weight class are required to contact the USDA and subscribe to the standards set forth.
Exemptions for Small Producers:
Eggs
Small egg producers with less than 3,000 egg-laying birds may sell the eggs with the following considerations: Small egg producers selling directly to consumers may voluntarily notify UDAF regulatory services. Small egg producers selling wholesale are required to notify the department.
Labels on eggs sold by small producers must include:
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- the common name of the food (“eggs” if chicken eggs, “name of bird + eggs” if not from a chicken)
- the quantity or number of eggs
- the name and address of the small producer
- the statement “Keep Refrigerated”
- the statement “SAFE HANDLING INSTRUCTIONS: To prevent illness from bacteria: Keep eggs refrigerated, cook eggs until yolks are firm, and cook foods containing eggs thoroughly.“
Small egg producers selling eggs to a retail facility must also include the following on the label:
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- A statement that the eggs are “exempt from 21 C.F.R. Chapter 1, Part 118, Production, Storage, and Transportation of Shell Eggs”
- A statement that the eggs are not from an inspected source
Code and Administrative Rules relating to the sale of eggs by small producers:
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- Eggs (Utah Code Annotated Title 4, Chapter 4, Section 101)
- Grading and Inspection of Small Shell Egg Producers (R70-410)
- Production, Storage, and Transportation of Shell Eggs (21 C.F.R. Chapter 1, Part 118)
Poultry
Small poultry producers that produce less than 1,000 birds per calendar year have two options: obtain inspection through the USDA or register with UDAF under the Poultry Producer/Grower 1,000 Limit Exemption. A person may slaughter and process on their premises poultry that they raised and they may sell the poultry when the following criteria are met:
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- The poultry grower slaughters no more than 1,000 healthy birds of their own raising in a calendar year for distribution as human food
- The poultry grower does not engage in buying or selling poultry products other than those produced from poultry raised on their own farm
- The producer slaughters under sanitary conditions using procedures that produce sound, clean, unadulterated products fit for human consumption
- The producer keeps records as outlined in Title 9 CFR 381.175
- The poultry products are not sold outside of Utah
Considerations for selling under 1,000 birds under this exemption:
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- Birds can be sold direct-to-the-consumer and wholesale
- Birds may only be sold within Utah
- Birds are labeled properly including:
- a product description (name of the type of bird being sold)
- net weight of contents
- name and address of processor
- safe handling instructions
- date of package and/or lot number
- the statement: “Exempt R58-11-7(C)
Guidance, regulations, and rules relating to the sale of poultry by small producers:
