Can I sell eggs in North Carolina?

Do I need a license to sell eggs in North Carolina?

Not under the North Carolina Egg Law. That article never mentions a license or a permit to sell eggs. What it requires, unless an exemption applies, is a grade and a size on the container.

A producer marketing eggs of their own production is exempt from that grade-and-size section when the sale is on the premises where the eggs are produced or processed, or when ungraded sales do not exceed 30 dozen a week. The state's egg rules let the words "ungraded eggs" stand in for a grade on eggs exempt under that section. A separate article taxes egg handlers and exempts a handler who sells fewer than 500 cases a year. That is a tax, not a license to sell. The department's egg page points at these laws and doesn't add a permit of its own.

Source: N.C.G.S. § 106-245.15, 02 NCAC 09O .0103, N.C.G.S. § 106-245.34 and NCDA&CS egg page.

How many eggs can I sell without a license in North Carolina?

Two different lines, and neither is a license. On the premises where your own eggs are produced or processed, the grade-and-size section doesn't apply, and it states no dozen cap. Off those premises, the same section's exemption for ungraded sales stops at 30 dozen a week. Past that, the container has to show a grade and a size.

Federal egg-safety rules start at 3,000 laying hens, for a farm that does not sell all its eggs straight to consumers.

Source: N.C.G.S. § 106-245.15 and 21 CFR 118.1.

Can I sell eggs at a farmers market in North Carolina?

The egg law doesn't mention farmers markets. A market is not the premises where the eggs were produced, so the on-farm branch of the exemption doesn't cover it. The other branch does, if the eggs are your own and the ungraded sales are no more than 30 dozen a week: the grade-and-size section doesn't apply, and the rules allow a bulk display bought from someone eligible to sell ungraded eggs to say "Ungraded Eggs" in letters at least 3/8 of an inch high.

The egg law doesn't say whether the county health department requires a permit for the stall. Ask the department, and the market, before your first day.

Source: N.C.G.S. § 106-245.15 and 02 NCAC 09O .0102.

Can I sell eggs to a restaurant, a store or someone who resells them in North Carolina?

The grade exemption is not limited to a household. It applies to a producer marketing their own eggs, including to retailers and to institutional consumers, when the sale is on the farm or ungraded sales are within 30 dozen a week. An institutional consumer includes a restaurant and a hotel.

A different section still says that when you market eggs to a retailer, an institutional consumer, or another person, you give the buyer an invoice showing the grade and the size, and both of you keep it 30 days. It doesn't say what that invoice shows when the eggs are ungraded. Repackaged eggs may not be offered at a retail outlet except when the producer sells them directly to the consumer. Ask the department how an ungraded sale to a restaurant is invoiced. Selling for resale is beyond what this directory is built for.

Source: N.C.G.S. § 106-245.15, § 106-245.14, § 106-245.19 and 02 NCAC 09O .0103.

Do I need to grade or label my eggs in North Carolina?

Where a grade is required, the container shows the grade, the size or weight class, the word "eggs," the count, and the packer's or distributor's name and address. The grade and size are in bold type at least 3/8 of an inch high. The word "fresh" is only for Grade A or better. Eggs exempt from grading may be designated "ungraded eggs."

A person who reuses a container covers any labeling that no longer fits and relabels it. Offering repackaged eggs at a retail outlet is unlawful except when the producer sells them directly to the consumer.

Federal rules put the "Safe Handling Instructions" statement on every carton of shell eggs, in a box, on the top, a side panel, or inside the lid. If it is inside the lid, "Keep Refrigerated" goes on the outside.

Source: N.C.G.S. § 106-245.18, 02 NCAC 09O .0103 and 21 CFR 101.17(h).

Do eggs have to be refrigerated to sell in North Carolina, and at what temperature?

The egg law says anyone marketing eggs keeps them in a proper environment, under the Board of Agriculture's rules. The rule says that environment is met when eggs are gathered and placed in a refrigerated room at an ambient temperature of 45°F or lower until they are graded and packed, and, after grading and packing, held and transported at 45°F or lower, without freezing, until sold or used in food. The rule is written as "until graded and packed" and "after grading and packing." It doesn't state a different temperature for eggs that stay ungraded. Ask the department whether an ungraded carton is held to the same 45°F.

Source: N.C.G.S. § 106-245.22 and 02 NCAC 09O .0104.

Can I sell duck, quail or other eggs in North Carolina?

The egg law defines eggs as the product of a domesticated chicken, in the shell or as a further-processed egg product. Duck and quail eggs are outside that definition, so the 30-dozen line says nothing about them. The sources don't say what replaces it. Ask the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.

Source: N.C.G.S. § 106-245.14.

Do I have to wash or candle eggs to sell them in North Carolina?

Candle, when you grade. The rules say the final decision that eggs meet a grade is made by candling. A producer exempt from the grade designation is not being held to a grade, and the statute doesn't separately require that producer to candle.

Wash: the statute doesn't say every egg is washed. It says that when cleaning is necessary, a sanitary method approved by the Commissioner is used, and that eggs are protected from dirt so far as possible. The rules also say inedible eggs and loss eggs are not sold for human food. Ask the department before you sell eggs unwashed.

Source: 02 NCAC 09O .0106, N.C.G.S. § 106-245.15, § 106-245.22 and 02 NCAC 09O .0105.