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Egg crisis: Rita's not selling custard

Avian flu, which has sent egg prices soaring to record levels, has forced the water-ice giant to sub soft-serve.

Un oeuf is un ouef. Now Rita's has cracked.

The avian flu, which has sent egg prices soaring to record levels as birds are destroyed in the nation's worst outbreak in three decades, has forced the water-ice giant to temporarily halt the making of frozen custard.

As supplies run out at its 600-plus stores, Rita's will sub soft-serve ice cream, which is eggless, a spokeswoman said. The soft-serve has a "similar flavor profile," CEO Jeff Moody said. "It's as close as we could get."

Moody said it was not an issue of cost. Rita's yolk supplier announced that it would suspend production for now, he said.

The entire Rita's system uses about 4,500 gallons of custard daily, which equates to about 1,600 pounds of egg yolks.

The avian flu virus, whose most recent outbreak began in Iowa in mid-April, has not been found in Pennsylvania.

Egg prices have risen by more than 300 percent, and many businesses are choosing to stop serving eggs, or opting to eat the higher costs or pass along the higher prices.

A dozen eggs at the supermarket has passed the $3 mark.