Michigan Caged Hen Egg Ban Challenged by Justice Department (1)

Michigan’s law mandating that all eggs sold in the state come from uncaged hens is preempted by federal law and therefore unenforceable, the Justice Department said Thursday.

The state regulations—which first went into effect in 2019 and ban the sale of eggs from farms anywhere in the country that don’t meet the standards set by the law—run afoul of the 1970 federal Egg Products Inspection Act, according to the suit. That law establishes a national uniform quality standard for eggs and and bars state and local laws that impose additional or different quality standards, the DOJ said.

The lawsuit ...