Soaring egg prices have consumers boiling, and on Wednesday, the United States Department of Agriculture blamed rising costs on the bird flu epidemic and said it will take new steps to quell the outbreak.

Eggs have become the grocery staple that Americans can't stop talking about, whether its fears of widespread bird flu getting worse or the drastic increase in prices.

The U.S. will invest up to $1 billion to combat the spread of bird flu, as well as increase imports of eggs in an effort to drive down high prices, agriculture secretary Brooke Rollins said on Wednesday.