Twin Cities grocery shoppers may have noticed a dearth of eggs this week, as prominent supermarkets – including Cub Foods – are grappling with a bird flu-induced disruption of their egg supplies, reports Star Tribune.

“We have had some disruption in the local supply chain for shell eggs,” said Jeff Swanson, a spokesman for Eden Prairie-based Supervalu Inc., Cub’s owner. “We expect to be back to normal on supplies by next week.”

Cub is the Twin Cities’ largest supermarket chain. Lunds & Byerlys and Kowalski’s both reported similar egg supply interruptions. All three companies’ issues stem at least partly from bird flu woes suffered by Minnetonka-based Michael Foods, one of the nation’s largest egg suppliers.

Mike Oase, vice president of operations at Kowalski’s, said: “We are still getting some eggs, but the supply will get a little thin in the next couple of days.”

Aaron Sorenson, spokesman for Lunds & Byerlys, added: “Some stores still have a fairly strong supply, but in some stores it’s a little spotty.”

Cub, Lunds & Byerlys and Kowalski’s all stressed that the supply gaps are temporary, and that they are lining up new supply sources.

Mr Swanson added: “The key thing is that the consumer should not be concerned about an egg shortage.”

Wal-Mart and Target spokesmen told Star Tribune that their Minnesota stores are not experiencing shortages.