Washington’s Department of Agriculture did not complete hundreds of mandated inspections at egg production and packing plants for the past two years, posing health risks to consumers, according to a new state audit. 

The agency says it lacks the staff to meet the requirements and is drafting language to update state inspection regulations for egg facilities.

The department failed to complete 97% of required quarterly inspections of egg packing plants between state fiscal years 2024 and 2025, the state auditor’s office reported. 

It also failed to meet its own annual inspection frequency targets for egg production plants, which are generally on the same site as packing plants.

“By not performing inspections required by state law, there is an increased risk that eggs unfit for human consumption may reach the consumer, posing serious health and safety risks,” the report notes. 

In 2024, the department completed 13 of 165 required inspections. And in 2025, it completed just two of 294 required inspections, according to the audit. 

It’s not the first time this has happened. The state auditor reached a similar conclusion when it released its first audit on egg facility inspections in 2024. Between fiscal years 2022 and 2023, that report found, the department only completed 2% of required inspections. 

For at least four years, the Department of Agriculture has severely underinspected egg facilities.

“We do not believe quarterly inspections are necessary,” the department said in 2024 in response to the first audit. 

Since then, the department has met with federal and other state egg regulators and is working on draft language to update Washington’s egg inspection guidelines, which are stricter than federal inspection requirements, according to the agency’s response to the most recent audit.

The department contends that state law allows exemptions, specifically for egg packers with less than 3,000 laying hens. If those smaller facilities were exempted, as they are under federal regulations, the Department of Agriculture would only be required to inspect fewer than 10 Washington egg packing plants.

“We believe that the legislature did not necessarily intend for the program to conduct that number of inspections ad infinitum,” the agency said in its response. 

When the state law was created in 1975, the Department of Agriculture had its own egg inspection unit, the department said. Today, its Food Safety Program regulates many more facilities and “does not have sufficient staff to visit egg facilities quarterly,” according to the agency.

This story is republished from the Washington State Standard, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news outlet that provides original reporting, analysis and commentary on Washington state government and politics.