Warning as food shortages force supermarkets to ration eggs

The National Farming Union (NFU) has called on the Government to back British food production to secure a home-grown supply of food or risk seeing more empty shelves in the nation’s supermarkets.

Some supermarkets are limiting the number of eggs customers can buy (Image: Pixabay)

The NFU warning comes at a time when people are seeing empty egg shelves and UK fruit and veg growers under massive pressure due to soaring energy costs and workforce shortages.

NFU President Minette Batters urged Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to honour commitments to support British farmers through the energy crisis.

Mrs Batters said: “Shoppers up and down the country have for decades had a guaranteed supply of high-quality affordable food produced to some of the highest animal welfare, environmental and food safety standards in the world.

“That food is critical to our nation’s security and success. But British food is under threat.

“We have already seen the egg supply chain crippled under the pressure caused by these issues and I fear the country is sleepwalking into further food supply crises, with the future of British fruit and vegetable supplies in trouble.”

Reports say avian flu has seen the culling of flocks of chickens (Image: Pixabay)

Other reports say the entire industry is facing a shortage of eggs for a number of reasons, including avian flu leading to a culling of flocks, or producers cutting back on the amount they are producing or leaving the industry due to increased costs.

To combat the egg shortage and to prevent empty shelves, supermarkets such as Asda and Morrisons have introduced a limit of two boxes of eggs per customer.

A spokesperson for Asda said: “The past few years have shown the strength of our supply chains and we are adept at managing temporary shortages of products to ensure that there are options on our shelves for our customers.

“We are working hard with our suppliers to resolve the industry challenges which are currently affecting all supermarkets and to make sure as many customers as possible can buy eggs we have introduced a temporary limit of two boxes per customer.”

A spokesperson for Morrisons added: "Late last year, we saw an unprecedented demand for our eggs and introduced a two-pack cap.

“We would encourage customers to only buy what they need so that stock levels can return to normal as quickly as possible.

“All of the eggs we sell are British and the vast majority come from our own egg packing site in North Yorkshire."

Have you got a story for us? Email newsdesk@telegraphandargus.co.uk or contact us here, or WhatsApp us on 07720403052.

Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to keep up with all the latest news.

Sign up to our newsletter to get updates sent straight to your inbox.

You can also call us on 01274 705292.