Can I sell eggs in Arizona?

Do I need a license to sell eggs in Arizona?

The sources read do not settle it. The statute licenses a dealer, a producer-dealer or a manufacturer and names no producer license, the Department’s egg page asks a nest run producer to register at no fee, and the Department’s rules list “Acting as a dealer, producer-dealer, producer, or manufacturer without a valid license” as a violation without saying what license (R3-2-906(A)(1)(b)).

The license is written for a person who resells. A.R.S. 3-714(A) says “No person shall act as a dealer, producer-dealer or manufacturer engaged in the business of buying, candling, grading, peddling, distributing, dealing in or trading in eggs or egg products for resale within this state or engage in the business of breaking eggs for resale within this state without first obtaining a license from the division” (“this article,” 3-701 to 3-739, and “division,” the animal services division of the Department of Agriculture, 3-701(10)). The fee is “twenty-five dollars for each place or location where the business of the applicant is being or will be conducted,” “An exclusive retailer selling to consumers only is exempt from the license fee,” and “Licenses shall expire on February 28 following the issuance thereof” (3-714(C)). A “Dealer” is “any person who contracts for or obtains from the producer, or any producer-dealer, dealer or manufacturer, possession or control of any eggs or egg products for the purpose of candling, grading, selling, peddling, distributing, dealing in or trading in eggs or egg products for resale to an egg dealer within this state, producer-dealer, manufacturer, retailer or consumer for human consumption within this state” (3-701(8)). A “Producer” is “a person that is engaged in the business of operating or controlling the operation of one or more ranches producing eggs within this state” (3-701(23)), and a “Producer-dealer” is “a person that is engaged in the business of operating or controlling the operation of one or more egg ranches producing eggs within the state, and that, while in possession or control of any additional eggs other than the person's own production, candles, grades, sells, peddles, distributes, deals in or trades in eggs for resale to dealers, producer-dealers, manufacturers or retailers” (3-701(24)). “Persons handling eggs in a retail establishment for retail sale only to a consumer, or eggs which have been candled, graded and sold by a producer or a licensed person under this section, having proper refrigeration facilities for handling and storing the eggs at their retail place of business, shall not be subject to the licensing provisions of this section” (3-714(F)).

A separate article speaks of a producer’s right to sell. It defines “Food product” to include “Eggs and egg products” (A.R.S. 3-561(1)(e)) and “Producer” to include “owners, proprietors or tenants of agricultural lands, orchards, farms and gardens where food products are grown, raised or prepared for market” (3-561(2); “this article” is 3-561 to 3-563, Title 3, chapter 3, article 7, “Sale of Food Products by Producers”). It says “The producers of food products on agricultural lands, farms and gardens shall never under any pretext be denied or restricted the right to sell and dispose of their products, except in the manner and to the extent provided in this article, and subject to inspection by lawful authority when the inspection is uniform as to the same product and without cost to the producer” (3-562(A)), and “A tax, license or fee may not be imposed or levied on or demanded or collected from: 1. A producer for a sale of a food product. 2. A purchaser of a food product from a producer,” and “A penalty or punishment may not be imposed on account of the sale of a food product, except for a violation of laws providing for inspection” (3-563(A), (B)). The article adds that “The right to sell and dispose of food products shall extend to the producer in person, members of his family, his agents and all persons in his service, when the products are sold or disposed of on his behalf and for his benefit” (3-562(B)), and that “A municipal ordinance that seeks to impose or subject a producer, or a purchaser of a food product from a producer, to a tax, license or fee is void, except that all such products in common with similar products offered for sale by persons not the producers thereof are subject to inspection. A municipal ordinance providing for inspection is not valid unless it applies in the same manner and terms to other persons offering similar products for sale” (3-563(C)). The egg article, for its part, makes “A person violating any provision of this article, filing a false report, or interfering with an inspector in the discharge of his duties is guilty of a class 3 misdemeanor” (3-737(A)) and charges “An inspection fee of not more than three mills per dozen on shell eggs and three mills per pound on egg products,” to be paid “by a dealer, producer-dealer, manufacturer or producer on all eggs and egg products regardless of origin, sold to a retailer, hotel, hospital, bakery, restaurant, other eating place or consumer for human consumption within this state” (3-716(A)). Its next sentence puts the fee on eggs used for breaking, freezing or drying: “Inspection fees on eggs used for the purpose of breaking, freezing or drying shall be paid by the manufacturer, dealer or distributor if sold or offered for sale to retailers or consumers for human consumption within this state” (3-716(A)). No source read says how the two articles fit together, or whether either is the rule for a farm’s own egg sale.

Maricopa County’s Environmental Services Department (Permit Exemptions, Rev 10/15/25) lists as not needing a food permit “The producers of food products in their natural state on agricultural lands, farms and gardens and in compliance with Arizona Revised Statutes Title 3, Chapter 3, Article 7. Food Products include: Every product of the soil in its natural or manufactured state; beef and beef products; swine and pork products; fowls and poultry products; eggs and egg products; milk and milk products, and lamb and sheep products,” and its permitting FAQ lists “Eggs” under “Some examples of TCS foods are:” (time/temperature control for safety foods). Its wording “in their natural state” is not in the statute’s list, where “in its natural or manufactured state” follows “Every product of the soil” only (A.R.S. 3-561(1)(a)). That is one county’s sheet; no other county’s was read.

The Department of Agriculture’s egg page (undated; read from a browser screenshot, because the site answers a script check to a plain request) has a “Nest Run Small Producer Exemptions” column: “Mandatory Registration: Small producers must formally register their flock operation with the Arizona Department of Agriculture. There is no state fee required for this application.” It links a “Nest Run Small Producer Registration” form (“No-fee mandatory registration form for flock operations producing fewer than 750 dozen eggs annually”) and a “Commercial Egg License Application” (“Official dealer application form required for initial establishment and quarterly fee reporting lines”). Neither form was read (#420). Its ceiling is worded two ways on the one page, “Operations are strictly limited by law to a maximum output of 750 dozen nest run eggs per calendar year” and “flock operations producing fewer than 750 dozen eggs annually,” beside the statute’s twenty-five cases of thirty dozen, which is exactly 750 dozen; exactly 750 dozen is inside the statute and outside “fewer than.”

The Department’s rules (3 A.A.C. 2, Supp. 25-4, header December 31, 2025, from the Secretary of State) speak of a producer’s license and fee. R3-2-905(A): “All dealers, producer-dealers, manufacturers, and producers shall pay an inspection fee at the rate of 3.0 mills (.00300) per dozen on all shell eggs sold as prescribed in A.R.S. § 3-716(A).” R3-2-906(A)(1)(b) makes it a violation to act “as a dealer, producer-dealer, producer, or manufacturer without a valid license,” and R3-2-906(B) adds “Any violation of this Article or of A.R.S. Title 3, Chapter 5, Article 1 not listed in subsection (A) is subject to a Category A civil penalty.” The statute’s license section, 3-714(A), names “a dealer, producer-dealer or manufacturer” and no producer, and no source read says what license a producer holds, or whether the nest run registration is it. The statutes leave the standards to the rules: “The standards of quality for chicken eggs in the shell as determined by candling shall be established by rule adopted by the director” (3-705), “The tolerance for eggs in a case, half-case, container or carton as determined by count shall conform to the specifications of the grades established by rules adopted by the director” (3-706) and “As used in this article with relation to chicken eggs, the standards of size as determined by weight shall be established by rules adopted by the director” (3-708).

A listing with a price and an online request for pickup are open. A.R.S. 3-723 says “Advertising by sign, placard or otherwise the price at which chicken eggs are offered for sale without marking the full, correct and unabbreviated designation of size and grade of the eggs, or nest run, according to the standards prescribed pursuant to this chapter on the advertisement is prohibited” (“this chapter” is 3-701 to 3-739), and “Sell” “includes to offer for sale, to expose for sale or to have in possession for sale, exchange, barter or trade” (3-701(27)). The sections read (3-701 to 3-739 and 3-561 to 3-563) do not use the words internet, online, website, electronic or pickup. No source read says whether a farm’s post with a price is an advertisement “by sign, placard or otherwise,” or whether the marking exception in 3-720(A)(4), which speaks of marks on “cases, containers or subcontainers,” reaches an advertisement.

Nothing here says a seller is legal. It says what Arizona’s sources say and where they leave it open.

Source: A.R.S. 3-714, A.R.S. 3-701, A.R.S. 3-716, A.R.S. 3-723, A.R.S. 3-561, A.R.S. 3-562, A.R.S. 3-563, A.R.S. 3-737, A.R.S. 3-705, A.R.S. 3-706, A.R.S. 3-708, Maricopa County Permit Exemptions, Department of Agriculture egg page and 3 A.A.C. 2 (Animal Services Division rules).

How many eggs can I sell without a license in Arizona?

For nest run eggs, yes: twenty-five cases a calendar year. A.R.S. 3-715(A) says “It is unlawful to sell to retailers or consumers nest run eggs, except that a person may sell to retailers or consumers twenty-five cases of nest run eggs from the person’s own production each calendar year.” “Nest run eggs” are “eggs that are packed as they come from the production facilities without having been washed, sized or candled for quality, regardless of whether some undergrades have been removed” (3-701(20)), and a “Case” is “a standard thirty-dozen egg case as used in commercial practice in the United States” (3-701(5)), so twenty-five cases is 750 dozen; the statute states the limit in cases.

A person who sells nest run eggs has an invoice to keep and notices to give. “The total quantity of nest run eggs on hand or on sale at any time shall not exceed the total quantity of nest run eggs as shown on invoices or egg purchase tickets. Any person who sells nest run eggs shall keep an invoice or egg purchase ticket as prescribed in section 3-718” (3-715(A)), while 3-718(C) says no invoice is required when the producer sells eggs from the producer’s premises direct to the consumer; no source read says how those two fit. “A person who proposes to sell nest run eggs must first notify the department in writing of that intent and specify the location and the number of laying hens, the place of production and the general area of this state in which the nest run eggs are to be sold” (3-715(B)), and “Any person selling nest run eggs as provided in this section shall notify the department in writing within five days from the date each calendar year the person’s total sales of such eggs amount to twenty-five cases” (3-715(E)). The statute also bars mixing the two routes on one day’s production: “It is unlawful for any person selling any portion of a daily production as graded eggs to sell any other portion as nest run eggs, except that any person may change the sales from graded to nest run by notifying the department in writing prior to such change” (3-715(C)), and the other way, from nest run to graded, “by notifying the department in writing within five days from the date of change” (3-715(D)). “Notwithstanding the requirements of this section, twenty-five cases per year of nest run eggs as provided in section 3-715 may be sold by any person to retailers or consumers without being subject to the report and inspection fee as provided by this section” (3-716(F)).

The Department’s rules charge the same fee to “producers” at “3.0 mills (.00300) per dozen” (R3-2-905(A)), where the statute says “not more than three mills per dozen on shell eggs.” The Department’s egg page sets the nest run ceiling at “a maximum output of 750 dozen nest run eggs per calendar year” in one place and “flock operations producing fewer than 750 dozen eggs annually” in another, and exactly 750 dozen is inside the statute’s twenty-five cases and outside “fewer than.” R3-2-907(E) says “Subsections (A) through (H) of this Section do not apply to egg producers or business owners or operators operating or controlling the operation of one or more egg ranches each having fewer than 20,000 egg-laying hens producing eggs,” a line for that section’s husbandry rules only. No section read sets a dozen or hen limit on graded eggs. The inspection fee is “not more than three mills per dozen on shell eggs and three mills per pound on egg products” and is paid by “a dealer, producer-dealer, manufacturer or producer on all eggs and egg products regardless of origin, sold to a retailer, hotel, hospital, bakery, restaurant, other eating place or consumer for human consumption within this state,” with a quarterly report (3-716(A), (C)). Its next sentence puts the fee on eggs used for breaking, freezing or drying: “Inspection fees on eggs used for the purpose of breaking, freezing or drying shall be paid by the manufacturer, dealer or distributor if sold or offered for sale to retailers or consumers for human consumption within this state” (3-716(A)). 3-710(J) says “The director shall adopt rules for poultry husbandry and the production of eggs sold in this state. This subsection does not apply to egg producers operating or controlling the operation of an egg ranch that has fewer than twenty thousand egg-laying hens producing eggs,” a line for those rules and not for a sale.

The federal egg safety rule starts at 3,000 hens and is not a sales limit. 21 CFR 118.1(a) says “If you are a shell egg producer with 3,000 or more laying hens at a particular farm that does not sell all of your eggs directly to consumers and that produces shell eggs for the table market, you are covered by some or all of the requirements in this part, as follows: (1) If any of your eggs that are produced at a particular farm do not receive a treatment as defined in § 118.3, you must comply with all of the requirements of this part for egg production on that farm. (2) If all of your eggs that are produced at the particular farm receive a treatment as defined in § 118.3, you must comply only with the refrigeration requirements in § 118.4(e) for production of eggs on that farm and with the registration requirements in § 118.11.” Paragraph (b) adds “If you transport or hold shell eggs for shell egg processing or egg products facilities, you must comply with the refrigeration requirements in § 118.4(e). This section applies only to eggs from farms with 3,000 or more laying hens.”

Source: A.R.S. 3-715, A.R.S. 3-716, A.R.S. 3-701, A.R.S. 3-710, 21 CFR 118.1, Department of Agriculture egg page and 3 A.A.C. 2 (Animal Services Division rules).

Can I sell eggs at a farmers market in Arizona?

The sources read do not settle it. The egg article never names a farmers market, and the health sources read speak of markets only in a county’s permit sheets.

The marking and invoice exceptions do not name a place of sale. A.R.S. 3-720(A) says “No markings are required on cases, containers or subcontainers of eggs: ... 4. When sales are made by the producer from eggs produced on his own premises and sold direct to the consumer,” and 3-718(C) says “No invoice shall be required on eggs when sales are made by the producer from eggs produced on the producer's premises and sold direct to the consumer.” In both, “premises” is where the eggs were produced; neither says where the sale must happen. No source read says whether a sale at a market is one of them, and the Department’s reading is unread. The article’s words “farmers market” appear nowhere in the sections read (3-701 to 3-739); the only “market” is “preparing for market” and “marketing” in 3-710(A).

Maricopa County’s Environmental Services Department says Special Events include “fairs, festivals, farmers markets, promotional events, large sporting events (e.g. Fiesta Bowl, Waste Management Open, etc.), and other similar types of Department approved events”, that “Mobile Food Establishments and Food Caterers with an issued permit are approved to operate at these events,” and, after saying a business operating beyond what its annual permit allows at such an event needs a Temporary or Seasonal Permit, that “Temporary or Seasonal permits are not issued for Farmers' Markets.” Its Farmers’ Market Vendor List (Rev 09/24/25) defines its “Permit Type” entries as “Type I, Type II, Type III, Annual Special Event Food, Food Catering, NA” and lists under “Exemptions” “Agricultural Exemption,” “Sampling Non-Time/Temperature Control for Safety Foods” and “AZ Cottage Food Program,” and its Permit Exemptions sheet (Rev 10/15/25) lists “The producers of food products in their natural state on agricultural lands, farms and gardens and in compliance with Arizona Revised Statutes Title 3, Chapter 3, Article 7,” naming “eggs and egg products” (item 12). Whether an egg seller at a market is that exemption is not stated beyond the sheet, and no other county’s page was read.

The state’s food rules order exemptions. A.R.S. 36-136(I)(4) says the rules “shall provide an exemption relating to food or drink that is” in a list of (a) to (k), which includes “(c) Not potentially hazardous and prepared in a kitchen of a private home for sale or distribution for noncommercial purposes” and “(g) A cottage food product that is prepared in a kitchen of a private home for commercial purposes consistent with chapter 8, article 2 of this title.” The section does not use the word egg. The cottage food article defines a “Cottage food product” as one that “Does not include alcoholic beverages, unpasteurized milk or foods that are or that contain alcoholic beverages, fish and shellfish products, meat, meat by-products, poultry or poultry by-products unless the sale of those items is allowed by federal law, including all of the following: (i) Poultry, poultry by-products or poultry food products if the registered food preparer raised the poultry pursuant to the one thousand bird exemption set forth in 9 Code of Federal Regulations section 381.10(c). (ii) Poultry, poultry by-products or poultry food products if the poultry is from an inspected source pursuant to 9 Code of Federal Regulations section 381.10(d). (iii) Meat, meat by-products or meat food products if the meat is from an inspected source pursuant to 9 Code of Federal Regulations section 303.1(d).” (36-931(1)(b); “this article” is 36-931 to 36-933), and no section read says whether an egg is a “poultry by-product” or a cottage food. The Department of Health Services’ Cottage Food Program page, when read, carried its menu and no list of approved foods (its content is script-loaded), so that list was not read.

Source: A.R.S. 3-720, A.R.S. 3-718, Maricopa County Special Events/Farmers’ Markets, Maricopa County Farmers’ Market Vendor List, Maricopa County Permit Exemptions, A.R.S. 36-136 and A.R.S. 36-931.

Can I sell eggs to a store or restaurant in Arizona?

The sources read do not settle it. The egg article names a sale to a retailer, hotel, hospital, bakery or restaurant apart from a sale to a consumer, its two exceptions for a producer speak of the consumer, and the Department’s rules define a wider “ultimate consumer.”

A “Consumer” is “a person who buys eggs for use as food and not for resale in any form” (A.R.S. 3-701(6)), and a “Retailer” is “a person that buys candled and graded eggs or egg products from a producer, licensed manufacturer, licensed producer-dealer or licensed dealer for resale to a consumer only, or that buys egg products to use in the preparation of other consumer foods for resale” (3-701(26)). The invoice section lists the buyers apart: “Every person selling eggs or egg products to a producer-dealer, dealer, retailer, manufacturer, hotel, hospital, bakery, restaurant or other eating place, or consumer shall furnish an invoice showing the date of sale, the exact quantity of eggs or egg products, size and grade of the eggs, or nest run, according to the standards prescribed pursuant to this chapter, together with the name and address of the person buying and selling the eggs” (3-718(A)); “A copy of the invoice or egg purchase ticket shall be kept on file by the seller and the buyer at their respective places of business for a period of thirty days and shall be open at all reasonable times to inspection by an inspector” (3-718(A)). Its exceptions are “No invoice shall be required on eggs when sales are made by the producer from eggs produced on the producer's premises and sold direct to the consumer” (3-718(C)) and “No invoice shall be required on eggs sold or delivered by a retailer when selling eggs from the retailer’s establishment to consumers” (3-718(D)). No source read says whether a restaurant is a “consumer,” or whether a store’s or restaurant’s purchase is a sale “made by the producer from eggs produced on his own premises and sold direct to the consumer” under 3-720(A)(4).

For nest run eggs the statute names retailers: a person may sell to “retailers or consumers” twenty-five cases a year (3-715(A)), and “Retailers may sell nest run eggs to consumers only if, when on hand, offered for sale or placed on sale, they are clearly marked ‘nest run’” (3-715(A)). “Persons handling eggs in a retail establishment for retail sale only to a consumer, or eggs which have been candled, graded and sold by a producer or a licensed person under this section, having proper refrigeration facilities for handling and storing the eggs at their retail place of business, shall not be subject to the licensing provisions of this section” (3-714(F)), and the producer pays the inspection fee on such a sale (3-716(A)). Federal rules say the safe handling statement “for shell eggs that are not for direct sale to consumers, e.g., those that are to be repacked or labeled at a site other than where originally processed, or are sold for use in food service establishments, may be provided on cartons or in labeling, e.g., invoices or bills of lading in accordance with the practice of the trade” (21 CFR 101.17(h)(5)).

The rules define a different buyer. R3-2-901(A) says “Ultimate consumer” means “a person consuming eggs or egg products and a restaurant using eggs in the preparation of a meal,” against the statute’s “Consumer” as “a person who buys eggs for use as food and not for resale in any form” (A.R.S. 3-701(6)), and R3-2-908(B) says “No person other than a producer or producer dealer shall repack eggs. All eggs sold to the ultimate consumer must be pre-packaged with all required labeling requirements of this Article and A.R.S. Title 3 Chapter 5. A producer, producer dealer shall not pack or repack eggs that have been in retail distribution channels.” No source read says how that reaches a store’s purchase of a farm’s eggs. What a store or restaurant asks of its supplier is a health rule: the food rules (9 A.A.C. 8) were not read (#422), and no county’s rule on an approved source for eggs was read.

Source: A.R.S. 3-701, A.R.S. 3-718, A.R.S. 3-715, A.R.S. 3-714, A.R.S. 3-716, A.R.S. 3-720, 21 CFR 101.17(h) and 3 A.A.C. 2 (Animal Services Division rules).

Do I need to grade or label my eggs in Arizona?

For eggs sold graded, size, grade, and your name; for a producer’s own eggs sold direct, the statute’s exception names cases, containers and subcontainers, and not cartons. A.R.S. 3-715(I) says “It is unlawful to prepare, pack, place, deliver for shipment, deliver for sale, load, ship or transport or sell in cases, cartons, containers or subcontainers eggs for human consumption: 1. Unless each case, carton, container or subcontainer of chicken eggs is marked with the full, correct and unabbreviated designation of size and grade of the eggs therein according to the standards as prescribed pursuant to this chapter, together with the name of the producer, dealer, retailer or agent by or for whom the eggs were graded or marked,” and no section read exempts a carton from paragraph 1. Section 3-719(C) repeats it: “Each container, carton or subcontainer of chicken eggs shall be marked with the full, correct and unabbreviated designation of size and grade of the eggs therein according to the standards prescribed pursuant to this chapter, together with the name of the producer, dealer, retailer or agent by or for whom the eggs were graded or marked.” The letters are set by 3-719(D): “Designations of size and grade marked upon a carton or container of eggs shall be plainly and conspicuously marked in bold-faced type or letters not less than one-fourth inch in height on the outward top face of each carton or container holding less than fifteen dozen eggs, and not less than one-half inch in height on one outward side of any other container holding fifteen dozen or more eggs” (3-719(D)). “Only one description of the size and grade of eggs and one expiration date shall appear upon any carton, container, subcontainer or case of eggs” (3-719(H)). “Sales to consumers of chicken eggs from bulk lots are prohibited” (3-722).

The exception is in another section and its words differ. A.R.S. 3-720(A) says “No markings are required on cases, containers or subcontainers of eggs: ... 4. When sales are made by the producer from eggs produced on his own premises and sold direct to the consumer.” It does not list “cartons,” and the article defines “Carton” (“an egg carton as used in commercial practice in the United States”) apart from “Container” (“any box, one-half case, basket, flat or other receptacle, excluding a carton and a case”) (3-701(4), (7)). Its first paragraph excuses a case, half case or container “When a case, half case or container contains properly-marked cartoned or packaged eggs” (3-720(A)(1)). No source read says whether a producer’s carton of its own eggs sold direct needs the size, grade and name. The Department’s egg page asks that a nest run container be labeled “Nest Run Eggs” with the producer’s “registered name and physical farm address,” and says that nest run producers are “legally prohibited from packaging their products in trademarked or trade-name cartons belonging to any other commercial egg company”; the statute’s carton exception and its 3-715(A) “nest run” marking are read beside that, and R3-2-908(B) says “No person other than a producer or producer dealer shall repack eggs. All eggs sold to the ultimate consumer must be pre-packaged with all required labeling requirements of this Article and A.R.S. Title 3 Chapter 5. A producer, producer dealer shall not pack or repack eggs that have been in retail distribution channels.”

Expiration dates depend on the grade marked. “Cases, half cases, cartons or containers marked grade AA or grade A shall be marked with an expiration date” (3-719(E)). For grade AA it is “the words ‘sell by’ or ‘buy thru’ followed by a date, including the month and day, that is not more than twenty-four days after the eggs were candled and includes the date the eggs were candled,” and for grade A “the words ‘best by’ or ‘use by’ followed by a date, including the month and day, that is not more than forty-five days after the eggs were candled and includes the date the eggs were candled” (3-701(13)). On a case, half case or container of fifteen dozen or more, “The expiration date marked on a case, half case or container holding fifteen dozen eggs or more shall be plainly and conspicuously marked in bold-faced type not less than three-eighths inch in height on one outward end of the case or container” (3-719(F)); on a smaller one, “The expiration date marked on a carton or container holding less than fifteen dozen eggs shall be plainly and conspicuously marked in bold-faced type not less than one-eighth inch in height on one end of the outward top face of each carton and on one outward end or the outward top of each container” (3-719(G)). No statute section read asks a date on a carton not marked grade AA or grade A, but R3-2-906(A)(1)(c) makes it a violation to be “Selling shell eggs with an incorrect or incomplete expiration date, or without an expiration date,” and no source read says how the two fit.

Nest run eggs, other birds and reused cartons have their own lines. “Each placard for cases, half-cases, cartons or containers of nest run eggs and all advertising, invoices and egg purchase tickets relating to nest run eggs shall likewise be clearly marked ‘nest run’ as prescribed in this article” (3-715(A)). Eggs of a species other than chickens are marked with the species, and 3-715(G) speaks of “cases, half-cases, containers and subcontainers,” not cartons (its full sentence is under duck and quail). “The reuse of any carton for eggs which bears a name, a trade-mark or a trade name, except where the user is entitled to use the name, trade-mark or trade name, is prohibited” (3-721(B)), and 3-715(H) bars open display of cases with markings that do not apply to the eggs in them. “No person shall advertise or sell eggs as fresh eggs or represent them to be fresh eggs unless they meet the requirements for grade A or better” (3-724(A)), and “No person shall advertise, represent or sell eggs as local eggs unless the eggs have been produced within this state and meet the requirements for grade A or better” (3-724(B)).

Federal rules put the "Safe Handling Instructions" statement on every carton of shell eggs (21 CFR 101.17(h)), except eggs that “have been, before distribution to consumers, specifically processed to destroy all viable Salmonella” (101.17(h)(4)). Paragraph (h)(1) says “The label of all shell eggs, whether in intrastate or interstate commerce, shall bear the following statement: SAFE HANDLING INSTRUCTIONS: To prevent illness from bacteria: keep eggs refrigerated, cook eggs until yolks are firm, and cook foods containing eggs thoroughly.” It goes in bold type “on the principal display panel, the information panel, or on the inside of the lid of egg cartons,” set off in a box (101.17(h)(2), (3)), and if it is inside the lid “Keep Refrigerated” must appear on the principal display panel or the information panel (101.17(h)(2)).

Source: A.R.S. 3-715, A.R.S. 3-719, A.R.S. 3-720, A.R.S. 3-721, A.R.S. 3-722, A.R.S. 3-724, A.R.S. 3-701, 21 CFR 101.17(h), Department of Agriculture egg page and 3 A.A.C. 2 (Animal Services Division rules).

Do I have to keep eggs cold in Arizona?

The statute names dealers, manufacturers and retailers, and the Department’s rules and egg page name a producer. A.R.S. 3-727(A) says “Dealers, manufacturers and retailers shall keep shell eggs for human consumption under refrigeration at an ambient temperature not higher than forty-five degrees Fahrenheit.” A “Retailer” is one who “buys candled and graded eggs or egg products from a producer, licensed manufacturer, licensed producer-dealer or licensed dealer for resale to a consumer only, or that buys egg products to use in the preparation of other consumer foods for resale” (3-701(26)), and no statute section read applies 3-727(A) to a producer’s own storage. R3-2-906(A)(3)(a) makes it a violation, by “A dealer, producer-dealer, manufacturer, producer, or retailer, at each individual location,” to be “Failing to ensure that shell eggs for human consumption are kept refrigerated at an ambient temperature not higher than 45° F,” and the Department’s egg page tells registered nest run producers “Eggs must be kept under constant mechanical refrigeration maintained at 45°F (7.2°C) or less at all times.” Maricopa County’s Permit Exemptions sheet lists “Eggs” under “Some examples of TCS foods are:” (time/temperature control for safety foods), and does not set a temperature for one.

The federal rule’s refrigeration, 21 CFR 118.4(e), says “You must hold and transport eggs at or below 45 °F ambient temperature beginning 36 hours after time of lay. If the eggs are to be processed as table eggs and are not processed for the ultimate consumer within 36 hours from the time of lay and, therefore, are held and transported as required at or below 45 °F ambient temperature, then you may then hold them at room temperature for no more than 36 hours just prior to processing to allow an equilibration step to temper the eggs,” and reaches only farms of “3,000 or more laying hens” (118.1(a), (b)). The carton statement tells the buyer to “keep eggs refrigerated, cook eggs until yolks are firm, and cook foods containing eggs thoroughly” (21 CFR 101.17(h)(1)).

Source: A.R.S. 3-727, A.R.S. 3-701, Maricopa County Permit Exemptions, 21 CFR 118.4(e), 21 CFR 118.1, Department of Agriculture egg page and 3 A.A.C. 2 (Animal Services Division rules).

Can I sell duck or quail eggs in Arizona?

The egg article covers more than chicken eggs, and the sources read do not say how a duck or quail egg is graded. “Eggs” are “eggs that are in the shell and that are from chickens, turkeys, ducks, geese or any other species of fowl” (A.R.S. 3-701(12)). Eggs of another species are marked with it: “It is unlawful to sell or represent as chicken eggs, eggs from any other species of fowl, or mixed eggs from more than one species of fowl, or eggs from ducks, turkeys, geese or any species of fowl other than chickens without marking the cases, half-cases, containers and subcontainers of such eggs and indicating fully by sign or placard for bulk lots the species of fowl from which such eggs were produced” (3-715(G)).

The standards, tolerances and sizes are written for one bird: “The standards of quality for chicken eggs in the shell as determined by candling shall be established by rule adopted by the director” (3-705), and the marking, bulk-lot and price-advertisement sections speak of “chicken eggs” (3-719(C), 3-722, 3-723). The word quail appears in none of the sections read (3-701 to 3-739), and no source read says whether a quail egg is an egg of “any other species of fowl.” The rule that sets them, R3-2-902(A), says “All standards, grades, and weight classes of quality for chicken eggs in the shell shall meet the grades for eggs as prescribed in AMS 56, United States Standards, Grades, and Weight Classes for Shell Eggs, revised as of July 20, 2000,” incorporated by reference without later editions; the AMS book was not read, so no source read says whether it reaches a duck or quail egg.

Source: A.R.S. 3-701, A.R.S. 3-715, A.R.S. 3-705, A.R.S. 3-719, A.R.S. 3-722 and A.R.S. 3-723.

Do I have to wash or candle eggs in Arizona?

Candling goes with the graded route, and the article’s only mention of washing is in the nest run definition. “Candling” is “the visual examination of eggs to establish their quality by the use of transmitted light to determine the cleanliness and soundness of the shell, the size and condition of the aircell and the condition of the yolk, white and germ” (A.R.S. 3-701(3)). “Nest run eggs” are “eggs that are packed as they come from the production facilities without having been washed, sized or candled for quality, regardless of whether some undergrades have been removed” (3-701(20)), and a seller of them is held to twenty-five cases a year (3-715(A)). The statute sections read (3-701 to 3-739) set no washing rule. The department “may prescribe minimum standards for egg processing plants and sanitary standards for processing shell eggs” and “shall establish these standards by rule” (3-710(I)); R3-2-908(A) holds “All egg producers and retail locations where lot consolidation is conducted in this state” to the facility and sanitary requirements of 7 CFR 56 (effective March 30, 2008), and no rule read sets a washing method for a farm’s own eggs.

Eggs sold graded have their standards in the rules: R3-2-902(A) says “All standards, grades, and weight classes of quality for chicken eggs in the shell shall meet the grades for eggs as prescribed in AMS 56, United States Standards, Grades, and Weight Classes for Shell Eggs, revised as of July 20, 2000,” and the statute says “The standards of quality for chicken eggs in the shell as determined by candling shall be established by rule adopted by the director” (3-705). The inspectors “inspect, weigh and examine dried eggs, frozen eggs and eggs in the shell being advertised or offered for sale to determine the condition, quality, grade and weight thereof” (3-709(B)), and 3-724(A) says “No person shall advertise or sell eggs as fresh eggs or represent them to be fresh eggs unless they meet the requirements for grade A or better.” No source read says whether a producer selling its own eggs direct, and so excused from marking cases, containers and subcontainers (3-720(A)(4)), must candle them.

Source: A.R.S. 3-701, A.R.S. 3-715, A.R.S. 3-705, A.R.S. 3-709, A.R.S. 3-710, A.R.S. 3-720, A.R.S. 3-724 and 3 A.A.C. 2 (Animal Services Division rules).