Colorado consumers will start noticing new labeling on their eggs in the new year, but they will still be getting the same eggs as always.

The final phase of Colorado's cage-free egg law is now in full effect. Both retailers and egg producers have been preparing to comply with the cage-fee egg requirements since the state law passed in 2020. Those eggs will be labeled with "CO-COM," "organic," or "cage-free" on their package.

In a statement released Wednesday, Colorado Commissioner of Agriculture Kate Greenberg said Coloradans have been buying mostly cage-free eggs for nearly five years now.

"This final phase in Colorado's cage-free standards aligns with the operational changes many egg producers have been voluntarily making because of consumer demand since 2020,"Greenberg said. "The Colorado Department of Agriculture will continue to focus on our educational approaches, working with retailers to meet the regulations while making sure consumers continue to have access to eggs."

All commercial Colorado egg laying facilities already are compliant with the regulations. Additionally, since 2023, 74 certificates of compliance have been issued, representing approximately 1,500 farms outside of the state that can supply eggs to Colorado.

While consumers may see signage at their grocery stores indicating an egg shortage or a carton limit per purchase, that has little to do with the cage-free requirements. According to Bill Scebbi, Executive Director of Colorado Egg Producers, the country continues to experience the largest ever outbreak of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI), which has impacted more than 127 million domestic birds nationwide since 2022 including nearly ten million in Colorado. In a commercial egg-laying facility, a detection of avian influenza leads to a 100% mortality rate, which continues to cause supply chain challenges and increased egg prices across the country.

"Egg production relies on a complex system. Ongoing cases of HPAI have put enormous stress on this system and there are signs that the stress is having impacts on egg availability," Scebbi said. "Be assured that we are working together with the egg industry to fill customers' orders as we are able to develop alternate supply plans to address any disruption that may occur."

Colorado Department of Agriculture and egg producers in Colorado and around the U.S. are working hard to minimize the impact to consumers as they have been since the beginning of the avian influenza outbreak.

The bipartisan Confinement of Egg-Laying Hens law was passed in 2020 in response to consumer demand for cage-free eggs and established phased-in enclosure requirements for farm owners. Since 2023, CDA has been working with producers, distributors, and retailers to meet the statutory requirement of selling eggs from facilities that provided at least one square foot of space per hen.

Producers can learn more about the cage-free egg rules and consumers can find CDA's list of egg suppliers allowed to sell eggs in Colorado at ag.colorado.gov/eggs.