Cullen: Sticker shock at the egg aisle? Blame flu.

It’s hard to swallow, but the rising cost of your breakfast is a taste you will be forced to acquire. Egg prices are up, along with bacon, because of climate-influenced animal disease and a growing world population that demands more protein. One of the world’s largest producers of liquid eggs — already cracked and sold mostly in bulk to restaurants and bakeries — is practically in my backyard. Called Rembrandt Foods, the plant has been shut down since last spring over the bird flu. It’s the company’s second shutdown in seven years. Five million laying hens were destroyed. More than 200 workers, mainly immigrant, were laid off. There is no word on when the huge henhouse will cluck again.