Seizures of eggs are rising at America’s borders

Thousands of Americans have (mostly unknowingly) gotten into trouble for trying to smuggle eggs into the country.

3/26/25 6:50AM

Tired of shelling out as much as $10 or more for a carton of eggs, some inflation-squeezed consumers are getting creative to find new places to source their breakfast staple: outside the US. For the first two months of 2025, US Customs and Border Protection forces have intercepted a whopping 3,254 egg products, up 116% from this time last year.

The office in San Diego, where many US-Mexico food interceptions are made, saw a 158% increase in egg seizures since the end of the last fiscal year, as egg prices just across the border dropped under $2 a dozen compared to ~$9 in California. Most people transport eggs without knowing that unofficial egg imports are prohibited, though, according to the CBP.

Eggsceptional

The uptick comes after US egg prices soared, with the bird flu outbreak affecting America’s laying hens into 2025. The cost of a dozen grade-A eggs has nearly doubled in the past year, reaching an average of $5.89 in February, compared with just shy of $3 one year earlier, according to data from the Labor Department, though prices have since dropped in the last two weeks.

Hyunsoo Rim

hardly working

5/27/26

Teens aren’t getting summer jobs like they used to — this year could be worse than ever

Teen summer hiring in the US might hit its lowest level since federal tracking began, new report finds.

Saleah Blancaflor

5/15/26

From Desi Arnaz to SpaceX: Understanding the rules of the modern economy

We talked with “Planet Money” author Alex Mayyasi about how AI might help or replace you, the superstar effect, and how the compounding effect extends beyond money.

Globes covered with various currencies suspended in space

Millie Giles5/8/26

Ahead of Mother’s Day, Google searches for “same day flower delivery” have ticked up a little earlier this year

If you’ve already made plans for a Mother’s Day gift in advance of this Sunday, congratulations. But if alarm bells are suddenly ringing, consider this a gentle reminder that, like a sizable share of the US population this time of year often does, you can still scrape together some last-minute flowers for the woman who carried you for nine months.

Data from Google Trends reveals that searches for “same day flower delivery” spike in the US in May every year, when Mother’s Day takes place. As we noted last February, the same query also gains traction around Valentine’s Day.

This year, however, it appears that searches for last-minute flowers have remained elevated in the last two months after the usual peak in February — with the search interest this April actually exceeding that seen around Cupid’s Day.

Honestly, we’re not sure why searches are spiking a little early. One explanation might be that Passover and Easter have overlapped at the start of April, and Americans wanted to celebrate with some flowers. Maybe it’s a host of Claude bots that are now running errands for AI-obsessed execs — or perhaps Americans are just impulse-buying some seasonal spring blooms after an unusually warm March, without a particular occasion.