Some British meat processors will run out of CO2 in 5 days

LONDON - Sept 20 Reuters : Some British meat processors will run out of carbon dioxide in five days, forcing them to halt production, the head of the industry's lobby group warned on Monday.

A jump in gas prices has forced several domestic energy suppliers out of business and has shut fertiliser plants that also produce carbon dioxide CO 2 used to scare animals before slaughter and prolong the shelf-life of food.

The shortage of CO 2, also used to put the fizz in beer, cider and soft drinks, has compounded an acute shortage of truck drivers in the UK, which has been blamed on the impact of COVID 19 and Brexit.

My members are saying anything between five, 10 and 15 days supply, Nick Allen of the British Meat Processors Association told Sky News.

With no CO2 a meat processor cannot operate, he said.

The animals have to stay on a farm. They will cause huge animal welfare problems, and British pork and British poultry will disappear off the shelves, Allen said.

We're two weeks from seeing some real impact on shelves? On the poultry side we are hearing they have even tighter stocks so we could see poultry disappearing even sooner. Allen said the government was working hard to try and resolve the issue and would hopefully convince a UK fertiliser producer to restart their plant.

The British Retail Consortium BRC, representing retailers including existing supermarket groups, added to CO2 crisis pressures on production and distribution.

Retailers are working with their suppliers to resolve this issue, but government must investigate this matter as quickly as possible and work with industry to ensure a solution is found quickly and problems don t escalate further, said Andrew Opie, the BRC's director of food and sustainability.

Minister of Foreign Affairs James Cleverly said the government was looking at short-term shortages.

We will ensure that we are able to put food on the table, clearly that is a real priority, he told Sky News.