UK has ‘two months left’ earlier than meals shortages hit – full record

Sir Keir Starmer has asked the government’s emergency committee to prepare for a worse-case scenario that would see food shortages sweeping across the UK in months

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Britain could be facing a series of food shortages across supermarkets this summer as experts warn there’s only “two months” left in the supply chain. Popular food products such as beer, fizzy drinks, and chicken could be hit by a shortage in carbon dioxide (CO2).

The shortage has stemmed from the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, which has become a major focal point in the Iran War. Farming and hospitality are understood to be the most likely victims of any CO2 shortage.

This is because it is often used to help extend the shelf life of food products such as packaged meats, baked goods, and bagged salads, reports The Times. It is also used in the process of slaughtering pigs and a majority of the chicken that becomes part of the food industry.

The issue would also extend to breweries and soft drinks manufacturers with carbon dioxide used to make drinks fizzy. It would come at a time when Thomas Tuchel ’s England head to the United States for the FIFA World Cup.

The Times however says senior officials have a plan for the impact on British industry, codenamed “Exercise Turnstone”. The paper says the government’s emergency committee, Cobra, planned for a worst-case scenario in June, assuming the strait had not reopened and a peace deal had not been struck by the US and Iran.

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And while the shortages are not expected to be critical, it is thought there could be a lack of variety on supermarket shelves. It is thought the impact could be “highly visible” and “risk undermining wider government campaigns” aimed at stressing the strength of the supply chain.

Officials are thought to be planning to prioritise healthcare and “civil nuclear disruption” if the CO2 supply chain collapses. This would focus on areas that could pose a “risk to life” including dry ice to cool blood supplies, organs and vaccines, as well as the electricity supply.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer asked Cobra to look into the likely impact should the war last into summer. The meeting was attended by civil servants from the departments for health, defence, business, the environment, energy, housing and communities, as well as the Treasury, No 10 and the Food Standards Agency.

It is thought the “worst-case scenario” predicted that CO2 supplies could drop to as little as 18 percent of present levels. This was based on a model that saw a key UK manufacturing plant suffering a mechanical fault and a drop in CO2 production following high gas costs.

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Plans have therefore been drawn up to ask factories to increase CO2 production to 100 percent by stopping other manufacturing. Emergency legislation has now been discussed that would compel factories to co-operate.

It is thought The Civil Contingencies Act could also be invoked, which gives ministers temporary powers to respond in national emergencies. Officials stressed the plans are a “reasonable worst-case scenario,” which it says is “part of normal Whitehall planning” and not a prediction.

Last month ministers announced the Ensus plant in Teesside would be restarted for three months. They said it would “maintain a resilient” supply of CO2 across the nation.

Meanwhile, Starmer is set to co-host a meeting on Friday of more than 40 nations who are working to unblock the strait. It comes as a ceasefire between Iran and the US is set to expire.

A government spokesman told The Times: “We took decisive action last month to shore up the UK’s critical supplies of CO2 by temporarily restarting the Ensus bioethanol plant in Teesside and are continuing to work closely with business groups to tackle the impacts of events in the Middle East.

“Reasonable worst case scenarios are a planning tool used by experts and are not a prediction of future events.”

Products that could be hit by CO2 shortages

• Salad
• Packaged meats including pork
• Baked products
• Beer
• Fizzy drinks
• Chicken