​USDA’s Animal Health and Inspection Service (APHIS) confirmed the first outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in the state of Illinois involving commercial turkeys.
The infections in Wayne County affected 18,200 turkeys and represented the first confirmed HPAI outbreaks in Illinois since Dec. 21 and bring the number of commercial and wild birds affected by HPAI to approximately 27,210 since March of last year.
Meanwhile, a total of 111,300 birds in Pennsylvania tested positive for HPAI in the last week, including 97,700 commercial broilers in Lancaster County, APHIS reported. The agency’s totals include 9,400 birds in Pennsylvania confirmed with HPAI since Feb. 23.

It’s never been easy to operate a restaurant, and in recent years it’s been even harder.
In 2020, Covid restrictions ground the nation’s bustling restaurant industry to a halt. Since then, there have been significant signs of a rebound: Dining rooms have reopened and customers have returned to cafes, fine-dining establishments and fast food joints.
But there are fewer US restaurants today than in 2019. It’s not clear when —if ever — they’re coming back. Click here to read the full article. 

​The worst-ever outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza continued, with the virus affecting flocks in the U.S. and abroad. 
United States
On Feb. 21, the USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service announced an HPAI outbreak in a commercial broiler production flock in Lancaster County, Pa. The USDA stated that 97,700 birds were affected, and the outbreak is still considered active.
That is the third commercial broiler outbreak so far in 2023. On Jan. 20, a detection in Weakley County, Tenn. affected 267,800 birds, and a Feb. 7 outbreak in Leake County, Miss. affected 89,800 birds. 
Canada
Like the U.S., Canada is also grappling with historic HPAI outbreaks. According to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, approximately 7.2 million domestic birds in Canada have been affected in the last year, with 3.7 million cullings in British Columbia alone. The Globe and Mail notes that more than $82 million has been paid, to date, as compensation for cullings. 
South America, Caribbean cases
HPAI was recently declared "endemic" by world health experts, and the virus has continued its spread to other countries.
In the last week, both Argentina and Uruguay confirmed their first cases among wild birds, according to Poultry World. Currently, Brazil, Guyana, and Suriname are the only South American countries without detections. Argentina’s secretary of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries, Juan José Bahillo, blamed migratory birds for the country's detection; the secretary called an emergency meeting to address matters.
Additionally, WATT cited WOAH reports that three birds at Cuba's Jardín Zoológico de La Habana zoo in Havana died from HPAI. The detection resulted in the culling of 82 birds in the zoo's area.

Positive customer engagement can build long-lasting connections between customers and your brand. However, if you're not doing it right, customers will disengage, negatively affecting your overall revenue. Click here to read the full article. 

The burgeoning influence of Generation Alpha, whose oldest members will start hitting their teens this year, will have a growing effect on food trends in the coming years, Datassential's Samantha Des Jardins writes. Other factors expected to drive food trends in 2023 include artificial intelligence, greater risk-taking with menus, and a broadening of the definition of "third place" as more people shift to working from home.
Datassential, the leading food and beverage insights platform connecting the dots between consumers and the food industry, has unveiled the tentpole themes and macro trends that will impact the food industry in the coming year. Click here to read the full article. 

Higher ingredient costs will continue to plague restaurant operators in 2023, forcing them to streamline menus, according to several foodservice industry experts. Click here to read more. 

USDA confirmed an outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in a commercial turkey farm in Virginia, the second such incident in the space of a week. 
The latest HPAI outbreak affected 10,700 turkeys at a farm in Rockingham County, Va., and is the second in the Shenandoah Valley at a commercial turkey farm in January, USDA reported.
The earlier outbreak, also in Rockingham County, affected 25,300 birds, according to a report from the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services that also was confirmed by USDA. The turkeys in that incident were culled to prevent the spread of the virus and represented the first such HPAI outbreak in the state.
Unlike the 17 states where USDA has confirmed at least one HPAI outbreak since late 2021, the Virginia outbreaks have affected only commercial poultry operations as infections nationwide continue to show only moderate signs of slowing down.

Historic storms have hammered California for more than two weeks, causing widespread flooding, road closures, power outages and evacuations in numerous counties.
As the state received roughly five times its average rainfall, the deluge offered water relief for drought-stricken farmlands. But the storms also inflicted a harsh toll on agriculture. Click here to read the full article. 

Even with eggs in short supply nationwide and prices climbing to new heights, it has not been enough to keep a 100-year-old egg farm from going out of business.
John Lewis Jr., president of Farmer John Egg Farm in Bakersfield, confirmed that the family operation will close its doors by the end of the month. The move comes as commercial poultry farms across the country have been pummeled by avian influenza, which has led to bird losses topping 57 million and shoppers facing sticker shock on eggs. Click here to read the full article. 

Legislators in Virginia and Washington state have introduced bills that aim to provide universal free meals to students. The Washington Healthy Hunger Free Kids Act would offer all 1.1 million students in the state free breakfast and lunch at school.
Meanwhile, in Virginia, HB 1967 would require schools to provide free breakfast and lunch to all students unless they receive written instruction from a student’s parent or guardian to not offer the meals. The bill was referred to the House Committee on Education. Click here to read the full article. 

Only 54% of QSR employees reached 90 days of working before quitting in 2022, according to an HourWork report emailed to Restaurant Dive that is based on surveys of employees at over 8,000 QSR restaurants. Prior to the pandemic, the segment’s 90-day retention rate hovered at 58%. Click here to read the full article. 

Though experts still are split on whether the U.S. Federal Reserve’s inflation-fighting moves will plunge the economy into a recession, consumers apparently aren’t waiting for the official figures, already trimming their grocery bills and choice of restaurants, the latest survey from Acosta indicates. Click here to read the full article. 

Restaurants are removing meat dishes from their menus due to the impact of inflation and the rising popularity of Veganuary, researchers say. Only 20% of all dishes served at restaurant chains last summer contained meat, according to the latest figures from Lumina Intelligence, a drop of four percentage points from last spring. Click here to read the full article. 

The worst outbreak of avian influenza on record is threatening to stretch into a second year, as the U.S. races to contain a virus that has already caused some food prices to soar amid a shortage of eggs.
Nearly 58 million birds from commercial and backyard flocks have been wiped out in the U.S. since last February, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. Click here to read the full article. 

High prices are driving an increase in attempts to bring eggs into the US from Mexico, according to border officials. Officers at the San Diego Customs and Border Protection Office have seen an increase in the number of attempts to move eggs across the US-Mexico border, according to a tweet from director of field operations Jennifer De La O. Click here to read the full article. 

If the flavors have felt slightly off at your favorite restaurant lately, it may not be your imagination. An eye-opening new report on the state of the restaurant industry entering 2023 reveals economics have started influencing ingredients in a major way. Click here to read the full article. 

As the U.S. poultry industry continues to contend with the nation’s worst outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) ever, experts are weighing in on the difficulties of trying to contain the bird-killing virus.
“This is the largest animal emergency that the USDA has faced in this country,” Gino Lorenzoni, an assistant professor of poultry science and avian health at Pennsylvania State University, told NBC News.
Efforts to prevent infections in commercial and backyard flocks are particularly difficult in that HPAI infections can come from wild birds. In addition to direct exposure, fecal matter can contaminate the grounds around farms and yards, the story published Thursday noted.
The USDA on Thursday announced a notice of intent to prepare an environmental impact statement for HPAI in the U.S., with the agency’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) requesting public comment to define its scope. The agency said it would consider all comments received on or before Feb. 17.
As of Thursday, the government’s tally included confirmed HPAI infections in 732 commercial and backyard flocks, affecting 57.87 million birds since February 2022. The latest infection was confirmed Wednesday in Lampasas County, Texas, according to APHIS.

As economic pressures continue, consumers across demographics are making changes to their restaurant purchasing behaviors. The December edition of PYMNTS’ Restaurant Digital Divide study, The 2022 Restaurant Digital Divide: Restaurant Customers React To Rising Costs, Declining Service, draws from a December survey of a census-balanced panel of more than 2,300 consumers who regularly purchase food from restaurants, seeking to understand how their dining habits have changed. Click here to read the full article. 

Chickens may not be able to fly very far, but the price of eggs is soaring. A lingering bird flu outbreak, combined with soaring feed, fuel and labor costs, has led to U.S. egg prices more than doubling over the past year, and hatched a lot of sticker shock on grocery aisles. Click here to read the full article. 

As schools around the country reopen after winter break, their students are being reminded of the lunch debt they've racked up this school year – an ugly reality that follows the end of federal assistance that paid for school meals for more than 50 million students during the pandemic. ​Click here to read the full article.